Facing an uncertain future, Donovan Mitchell should have no say in Cavaliers coaching situation

The Cleveland Cavaliers have dismissed J.B. Bickerstaff from his role as head coach. This season, he led the franchise to the Eastern Conference semifinals before it lost to the Boston Celtics in five games. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell sat out the final two contests while center Jarrett Allen missed the series entirely due to injury. Mitchell was reportedly unimpressed with Bicketstaff's coaching. 

“Multiple league sources have said, for months, that Mitchell did not have great confidence in Bickerstaff, and he was not alone," Shams Charania, Joe Vardon and Jason Lloyd of The Athletic reported. "Several players questioned Bickerstaff’s strategies, game management, practice habits and accountability measures, privately and publicly, throughout the season.”

Mitchell has two years remaining on his current contract. The second year is a player option. He is widely expected to opt out of that final year. As such, the Cavaliers could lose Mitchell for nothing next summer. He has consistently resisted verbally committing his future to the franchise. Should no contract extension be reached in the coming months, Cleveland will likely begin looking for viable trade partners. 

If Mitchell isn't willing to commit his future to the Cavaliers, the hope would be that he wasn't consulted on Bickerstaff's release. Allowing a star player who may look to jump ship the opportunity to have input on organizational direction is a questionable practice. That sort of influence should only be reserved for franchise cornerstones who will be around for the new regime. 

Unless the Cavaliers aim to give Mitchell enough influence within the franchise to convince him to stay, they could be pinning their hopes on the wrong horse. Yes, trying to appease your star player makes sense, but only if they're sticking around. As such, Cleveland should avoid consulting Mitchell on their hiring process until he signs an extension. If he doesn't, his voice should be dismissed as nothing more than background noise. 

You don't get the keys to a franchise by sitting on the fence and leveraging your future. Or at least, you shouldn't.