Report: Cavaliers Fired JB Bickerstaff In Effort To Keep Donovan Mitchell

According to NBA insider Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired JB Bickerstaff in an effort to keep Donovan Mitchell. 

Mitchell is under contract for next season and has a $37 million player option for 2025-26. He is eligible to sign a four-year, $208 million extension this summer.

“Although Cleveland brass has expressed confidence Mitchell will extend with the Cavs, sources said, the dismissal of head coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Thursday has been seen around the league as an inevitable move in the team’s efforts toward keeping Mitchell long term,” Fischer wrote. 

Bickerstaff went 170-159 in the regular season and 6-11 in the postseason with the Cavaliers, who lost to the Boston Celtics in the second round of this year’s playoffs in five games.

Mitchell averaged 26.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists this season while shooting 46.2% from the field, 36.8% from beyond the arc and 86.5% from the free-throw line.

According to NBA reporter Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, Mitchell was aggravated by some of Bickerstaff’s tactics and strategies.

“Yes, Donovan Mitchell was one of those aggravated by some of Bickerstaff’s tactics and strategies,” Lloyd wrote. “He wasn’t alone, but a locker room follows its star. If Mitchell had Bickerstaff’s back, everyone else would fall in line. When he didn’t, the others fell into that line, too.”

If Mitchell becomes a free agent in 2025, he is eligible to sign for a max of five years and $269.9 million with the team that holds his Bird rights (the Cavaliers now) or four years, $200.1 million with a new team.

If Mitchell doesn’t sign an extension with the Cavaliers this offseason, the thought is that Cleveland will look to trade him before free agency in the summer of 2025.

Mitchell has career averages of 24.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists with the Utah Jazz and Cavaliers. He scored a career-high 71 points last season against the Chicago Bulls.