Amico: Cavs’ Struggle vs Magic Was Problem For JB Bickerstaff

Well, there are always a multitude of reasons. Mostly, sometimes a team blames the coach — fairly or not — for every last thing that goes wrong. Certainly, everything that went wrong for Bickerstaff was not his fault. He got a far-below-average year from Darius Garland and little production from the bench players in the playoffs.

That sort of stuff happens all the time. So we blame the coach.

But what really may have doomed Bickerstaff was the Cavs’ first-round playoff series. They seemingly orchestrated a matchup with the Orlando Magic on purpose, losing their final regular-season game to the lowly Charlotte Hornets at home. They wanted the incredibly young, inexperienced Magic in the first round and they got them.

Then they needed to come back from 18 points down to win Game 7 over the Magic in Cleveland. Not ideal, and perhaps a major nail in Bickerstaff’s coaching coffin.

I discussed all that and a whole lot more in an interview with Andy Baskin and Jeff Phelps on 92.3 The Fan, which can check out here or in the player directly below.

I also attempted to answer other questions — such as what a coaching change means for the future of Donovan Mitchell with the Cavaliers, as well as potential candidates and other possible roster moves (Garland, anyone?).

Basically, there is a lot to be decided in Cleveland this summer, and for a team that got to where it expected. Namely, the second round of the playoffs.

But now, the Cavaliers expect to get even further, and they will need to have a bang-up offseason to help make it happen. President of basketball operations Koby Altman knows that. Now, where about to find out what he does about it.