It’s been a pleasure to see the Cleveland Cavaliers turn a corner this season, in which they’ve been a surprising 19-13. That’s even with such a difficult schedule in the first quarter-plus of the of the season where they had played so many postseason hopefuls.
Players such as Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen have been outstanding this season, and rookie Evan Mobley has done as well as one could’ve hoped for.
Additionally, veterans Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love have seemed fully bought-in as well, even with role changes to them being reserves. It’s often given the Cavaliers a jolt as a group, particularly with how the Rubio-Love duo had previously played together on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Overall, though, the Cavs have again done a great job so far this season, and in that realm, one has also has to give head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his staff credit.
Regarding Bickerstaff, who took over post-All-Star break in 2019-20 in that role after John Beilein stepped down, Bickerstaff and the team agreed on a long-term extension. Per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on this Saturday Christmas morning, that’ll keep him under contract with the Wine and Gold through the 2026-27 season.
ESPN Sources: Amid a dramatic franchise transformation, Cleveland Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff has agreed on a long-term extension that’ll keep him under contract through the 2026-2027 season. More in minutes on ESPN NBA Countdown: https://t.co/sdmU7FxlDz
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 25, 2021
The Cavs/general manager Koby Altman released a statement on the extension shortly following the above report as well.
OFFICIAL: #Cavs Head Coach @jbbickerstaff_ has signed a multi-year contract extension ✍️
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 25, 2021
DETAILS: https://t.co/sxZmNgviey pic.twitter.com/hKv4BpGsR2
This looks to ensure Bickerstaff will be around for the long haul with the Cavs, and hopefully this group can keep progressing in coming years.
Coming into the season, I can’t say I was necessarily sold on Bickerstaff following this season, as although the team had tons of injuries last season, the Cavs did have 22 wins, and there wasn’t a ton of momentum heading into the offseason.
There were bright spots, such as Garland’s bounce-back season and Collin Sexton’s campaign, and I still believe Sexton, who is out for the season, is a player Cleveland should keep around via new deal next offseason; we’ll see there.
In any case, thus far this season, however, the Cavaliers have turned a corner, and this group seems to have legitimate staying power. The Cavs are currently third in the league this season in defensive rating, and as Wojnarowski alluded to in the report, prior to having a litony of players entering COVID-19 health and safety protocols last week/weekend, Cleveland had won six straight by 21.5 points per outing.
Hopefully Cleveland in these upcoming games can get healthier, and that this COVID-19 issue doesn’t linger too much into January, so the group can get players such as Mobley, Okoro and Allen back.
Under Bickerstaff and the coaching staff, the Cavs have clearly looked to have turned a corner this season behind strong team defense, timely shooting, and a group that’s had success from balanced efforts offensively. And J.B. deserves his share of credit for that, and needs some love for the Cavaliers’ big turnaround thus far this campaign, where they are currently in the Eastern Conference’s fifth seed.
Hopefully this Cavs group can keep moving forward and continually progressing throughout this season and in coming years, where it seems as if Bickerstaff will be steering the ship, with his deal once again reportedly now through 2026-27. Bickerstaff previously had head coaching stints with the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies.
It looks as if Cleveland and with Altman might just be his/his family’s ideal destination in that regard, though, with what this group is building and with a number of promising young pieces.