3 ways J.B. Bickerstaff can have a successful first full year with the Cavs
By Zane Harris
No. 3 way for Bickerstaff to have a successful first full season as head coach: Get Cleveland Cavaliers veterans to buy-in
One of the toughest things for a head coach to do on a rebuilding team is to keep the veteran players engaged with the team and the younger players, keeping them involved in the gameplan while still trying to get the younger players their touches to develop them, and getting them to buy into the team while it is clear they are not title contenders. J.B. Bickerstaff must get players like Kevin Love to really buy-in this season.
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It is likely that because the cap will take a dip as a result of unexpected revenue loss due to COVID-19. This means that many contending teams will not be able to take in big contracts in the upcoming season and many players will be accepting their player options in their contracts rather than testing their value in free agency.
As a result of this, it likely means that Kevin Love and Andre Drummond will be on the Cavaliers roster for the 2020-2021 season.
With there needing to be drastic changes for the Cavs to even be playoff contenders in the upcoming season, it will be a challenge for Bickerstaff to get veteran players like this to buy into the team when it is likely they would rather be spending their prime or tail end of their careers playing for a team contending for a championship.
That said, one of the many things that John Beilein did wrong during his time at the head coaching position is he did not form relationships with these veteran players or get them involved in the offense nearly as much as he should have. Seemingly as a result of this, Love acted very out of character last season and seemed like he wanted nothing to do with the team and it was inevitable that he’d be traded by the 2020 deadline.
Love can be a player that is integral in the growth of the young crop of players that the Cavs have brought in the past few seasons. For him to be the veteran leader that the team needs him to be, he must be interested in the team and actively involved.
Bickerstaff establishing an early relationship with Love along with keeping him happy with the team could do wonders for the development of the Cavs young core, and based on their prior relationship and Love’s buy-in with Bickerstaff at the helm, that should be the case.