Cavaliers hire Bickerstaff as associate head coach

The Cleveland Cavaliers have hired J.B Bickerstaff as their associate head coach under newly hired head coach John Beilein.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers hired John Beilein as their head coach there was a belief that the team would bring in an experienced assistant. Cleveland did just that by hiring J.B. Bickerstaff as their associate head coach.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski had the report Sunday.

J.B. Bickerstaff was garnering interest around the league but the Cavaliers were able to get a deal done. Apparently the Boston Celtics also had interest in Bickerstaff, but Cleveland is where Bickerstaff will call home this season.

Bickerstaff has three years of head coaching experience under his belt. One year with the Houston Rockets and two with the Memphis Grizzlies. Bickerstaff has a career coaching record of 85-131.

As Wojnarowksi mentioned, Bickerstaff will help Beilein in his transition from the college game to the pro game. This is going to be crucial for the Cavaliers this upcoming season. While Beilein is an accomplished college coach, there is a distinct difference when it comes to coaching in the NBA. Bickerstaff should be able to help guide him as he has been on the NBA sidelines since 2004.

There will be times this upcoming season when nothing will seem to go right. John Beilein will need all the help he can get to help navigate through those tough times. The addition of J.B. Bickerstaff in a prominent role should make that navigation process just a bit easier. As everyone saw last season all it takes is a couple of untimely injuries in a short period of time and the season can go off the rails quite quickly. It will be the job of the coaching staff to do as much as possible to prevent that from happening for a second consecutive season.