7
Despite 99 wins in the last two seasonstwo excellent regular seasons, a first round of playoffs and a conference semifinal, JB Bickerstaff was recently fired as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. A choice that surprised the NBA world, especially due to the fact that the Cavs, in recent years, couldn’t do much more. This season they reached the playoffs as the fourth seed, beat the Orlando Magic in the first round after 7 games and were then eliminated by the title contenders Boston Celtics. The whole without Jarrett Alleninjured after only 4 playoff games and never returned, and Donovan Mitchell, who missed the final two games of the series against Boston. Providing explanations for the choice made regarding Bickerstaff was Koby Altman, general manager of the team since 2017:
During a 35-minute interview Friday, Altman acknowledged Bickerstaff’s “undeniable” success over the years but said the Cavaliers are in the right position to get a leader to help them win a title.
“Someone with a new approach, someone with a different voice, a different look to help us move forward“Altman said. “We have achieved a lot in recent years, reaching the Conference semi-final, but we don’t want to settle.”
Altman denied that the contract or Donovan Mitchell’s opinions influenced the decision on Bickerstaff. Although he has not spoken publicly about the matter, it is believed that the choice was also influenced by the former Jazz, who can sign a four-year, $200 million extension this summer.
“Donovan is a player who had two of the best years of his career here, he was very successful“Altman said. “I think he has a lot of confidence in what we are doing and understands that our goal is to win a title. He says he’s happy here, he’s always been very genuine. We have to be happy with where we are with Donovan. Of course, things could change.“
According to Altman, Bickerstaff needed to be changed, but the roster is competitive and no big changes need to be made:
“I don’t see any radical changes to be made“Altman said. “You can’t win 99 games during the regular season, get to a conference semifinal and say, “This team doesn’t work.” We are only in the second year of with this nucleus that we have created. I’m very excited about the future and I believe in this group.”
2024-05-26 00:48:21
#approach
