The Cleveland Cavaliers are having a great season, by far the best season they have had with LeBron James in nearly three decades. As of Monday morning, the Cavs are 45-28 with nine games to go in the regular season, good for fourth in the Eastern Conference.
Even in the midst of such team success, the criticism has continued to flow for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. He has tightened his rotation and left some valuable players outside of it, has possibly clashed with both Kevin Love and his replacement, Dean Wade, and has lost the confidence of much of the Cavaliers’ fan base.
J.B. Bickerstaff has received some criticism lately for the Cavaliers
The negatives certainly don’t tell the full picture. Bickerstaff has been at the helm as this team has grown from a cellar-dweller to a fringe contender. He correctly chose Darius Garland over Collin Sexton in the pecking order at point guard, he has overseen the growth of Evan Mobley into a budding two-way star, and players like Wade and Lamar Stevens have gone from undrafted to rotation options on his watch.
Bickerstaff has also shown some ingenuity, from the “Tower City” look last season with three 7-footers, to utilizing Mobley at the tip of a 3-2 zone, to creative offensive actions to maximize the abilities of both Donovan Mitchell and Garland. He is certainly not failing at his job, and the Cavs have the league’s best net rating as a result.
The most likely outcome for Cleveland is that they retain J.B. Bickerstaff past this season, allowing him to continue building this team. The organization will prioritize a starting small forward in free agency and on the trade market, and let Bickerstaff cook next year and try to contend for a title.
Yet it’s undeniably true that developing and coaching a rebuilding team into a playoff team is a very different challenge than leading a contender. Can Bickerstaff prove his ability to maximize a rotation? To make playoff adjustments during a series? To give his players everything they need to succeed at the highest levels?
If the Cavaliers disappoint in the postseason, losing in the first round or not being competitive in the second, it’s at least a question that will be asked. Should the Cleveland Cavaliers fire J.B. Bickerstaff and hire another coach?
The Cavaliers could copy the Golden State Warriors and fire their head coach
In 2014, the Golden State Warriors were riding high as a franchise. From 1994 to 2012 they made the playoffs just one time (the “We Believe” Warriors in 2007) but now had been to the playoffs in two consecutive years. Stephen Curry was a star, Klay Thompson looked like a hyper-talented running mate, and the roster had multiple solid pieces that suggested future success at the highest levels.
Their head coach, Mark Jackson, was beloved by the players and had overseen that rise into a playoff team. The Warriors won 51 games that season, Jackson’s third with the franchise, and lose a hard-fought first-round series to the LA Clippers. Jackson had sometimes clashed with other members of the organization, but he also had been instrumental in giving players like Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green the tools to become stars.
That summer, however, the Warriors fired Jackson. That was partly because of a toxic environment of communication that had developed in the organization, but even more so it was because Jackson wasn’t seen as the right coach to take the Warriors to their ceiling. He was a great coach to instill confidence and fundamentals and defensive principles in a young group; he didn’t have the scheme versatility, vision and overall leadership to make them a contender (at least, that was the conclusion of the Warriors).
It was a difficult decision, one that many players had a hard time with. Then Steve Kerr was hired; the former champion as a player instilled championship principles, an offense scheme that maximized their shooting and passing, hired top-notch assistants and the Warriors won 67 games and won the NBA Finals. They would go to six NBA Finals over the next eight seasons, winning four titles.
NBA history suggests the Cavaliers will fire Bickerstaff
J.B. Bickerstaff is not Mark Jackson, and firing him might not mean winning an NBA championship. Sometimes coaches oversee the growth of a young team and get to stick with them for the title; Gregg Popovich comes to mind, or Doc Rivers in Boston. More often, however, there is a coaching change involved.
Here’s a list of the last 8 NBA champions and whether they changed their coach after becoming a playoff team but before winning a title:
- 2015, ’17, ’18, ’22 Golden State Warriors: Steve Kerr replaced Mark Jackson
- 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers: Ty Lue replaced David Blatt (who replaced Mike Brown)
- 2019 Toronto Raptors: Nick Nurse replaced Dwayne Casey
- 2020 Los Angeles Lakers: Frank Vogel replaced Luke Walton
- 2021 Milwaukee Bucks: Mike Budenholzer replaced Jason Kidd
It’s a pattern that stretches back all the way to the Chicago Bulls firing Doug Collins and hiring Phil Jackson, or the Los Angeles Lakers replacing Joe Mullaney with Bill Sharman all the way back in 1972-73. The coach who oversees the growth of a team isn’t always the best pick to help them reach their ceiling.
J.B. Bickerstaff isn’t on the hot seat right now. The Cavaliers are playing extremely well, they are young and under contract, and he will most likely get another shot next season. A poor end to the season, however, with a shaky experience in the NBA Playoffs, and the front office could be looking to their rivals in the Bay Area and considering a change.