Cavs: KJG roundtable on John Beilein impressions, latest on the draft
By Dan Gilinsky
The Cleveland Cavaliers are amid what is a very important offseason for them in their rebuild, and the KJG team gave their takes on that, in regards to head coach John Beilein and other draft speculation.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have already been very busy this offseason, as they concluded a fairly-lengthy search by hiring former Michigan head coach John Beilein to be their new head coach, and that’s reportedly been the guy the front office/ownership has been on-board with him since they interviewed him.
General manager Koby Altman then reportedly urged the staff to do their due diligence after, but it was (again per reports) clear that Beilein seemed to be their candidate, and thus far, the 66-year-old Beilein has seemed to be a thumbs up hire (it’s early, though) by Cleveland’s players, and one would think, even more so the younger pieces, such as Collin Sexton and likely Cedi Osman.
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Several times previously when the head coaching search was still ongoing and in other times in press conferences and/or after the draft lottery, Altman used the phrase “culture driver,” and Cleveland’s GM seems to believe that Beilein is exactly that as a head coach, as he reportedly detailed in Beilein’s introductory press conference recently.
I asked the KJG team about their early impressions of the Beilein hiring, and how they believe he can provide a meaningful impact in regards to the team’s players in Cleveland’s next player development era of likely the next few seasons.
Additionally, we discussed the Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly potentially trading up for Duke star RJ Barrett. This is because the Cavs “really want” Barrett, according to Basketball Insiders’ Steve Kyler, and that would likely involve them moving up two spots in the 2019 NBA Draft, which would fit the aggressive mindset of Altman and the organization, headed by majority owner/chairman Dan Gilbert, who we hope is recovering well after reportedly being hospitalized due to stroke symptoms on Sunday.
There was a bit more on Cleveland’s potential approach in the draft next month as well.
So, on to question one.