Arrived in Cleveland as John Beilein's right-hand man in 2019, JB Bickerstaff had quickly taken charge of the team. So it's been four full seasons that Bernie's son has led the Cavaliers, and he would obviously like to continue in this role, even if ESPN announces that its management will take the time to reflect.
” Yes “ he replied when asked if he wanted to stay in office. “We built this project the right way. Every year we got better, we kept getting better, we made the play-ins, the playoffs, we won a round… The players got better. This is where I want to be. »
While many Cavaliers fans hope to see him leave, JB Bickerstaff knows that his position is still fragile, and he prefers to laugh at reminders on the subject…
“No one told me not to come back” he laughs when we push him a little about his relationships with his leaders. “So I'm going to come back until I'm asked not to.” »
It's also unclear around Donovan Mitchell
Unlike last year's first-round exit, this elimination against the Celtics in the conference semi-finals is nothing to be ashamed of for the coach. Especially with all of Cleveland's injuries.
But the Cavaliers came close to being in trouble in the first round against the Magic, being pushed to a Game 7 (in which they were off to a very poor start) at home. Given that it is also unclear around Donovan Mitchell, who can test the market in the summer of 2025 if he does not extend this summer in Cleveland, the Cavs have something to think about, even if Adrian Wojnarowski assures that Koby Altman, the president of the team, always trusts his coach.
“We have a good team” recalls JB Bickerstaff, who would especially like to be able to avoid injuries. “We have good players, players with character who want to win. And every time you have that, you give yourself an opportunity. I'd like to see what we look like when we're at full strength for a whole season, what pressure we can put on the league from that standpoint. But we have a good basketball team, guys who want to win and guys who want to get better. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Donovan Mitchell | 55 | 35.3 | 46.2 | 36.8 | 86.5 | 0.8 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 26.6 |
| Darius Garland | 57 | 33.3 | 44.6 | 37.1 | 83.4 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 18.0 |
| Jarrett Allen | 77 | 31.7 | 63.4 | 0.0 | 74.2 | 3.2 | 7.4 | 10.5 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 16.5 |
| Evan Mobley | 50 | 30.6 | 58.0 | 37.3 | 71.9 | 2.2 | 7.1 | 9.4 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 15.7 |
| Caris Levert | 68 | 28.8 | 42.1 | 32.5 | 76.6 | 0.6 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 14.0 |
| Max Strus | 70 | 32.0 | 41.8 | 35.1 | 79.4 | 0.9 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 12.2 |
| Isaac Okoro | 69 | 27.3 | 49.0 | 39.1 | 67.9 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 9.4 |
| Georges Niang | 82 | 22.3 | 44.9 | 37.6 | 85.0 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 9.4 |
| Sam Merrill | 61 | 17.5 | 40.2 | 40.4 | 92.9 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 8.0 |
| Marcus Morris | 12 | 15.0 | 44.1 | 41.4 | 62.5 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 5.8 |
| Craig Porter, Jr. | 51 | 12.7 | 50.9 | 35.3 | 73.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 5.6 |
| Dean Wade | 54 | 20.5 | 41.4 | 39.1 | 76.9 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 5.4 |
| Tristan Thompson | 49 | 11.2 | 60.8 | 0.0 | 28.8 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 3.3 |
| Damian Jones | 39 | 6.9 | 59.7 | 21.4 | 85.7 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 2.7 |
| Emoni Bates | 15 | 8.9 | 30.6 | 30.3 | 25.0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.7 |
| Isaiah Mobley | 10 | 7.2 | 41.7 | 30.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 2.3 |
| Ty Jerome | 2 | 7.4 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Pete Nance | 8 | 3.4 | 16.7 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
