Cleveland Cavs talking to John Beilein about the coach stepping down

After John Beilein came on board in the off-season to much fanfare, the 67-year-old coaching legend is talking to the Cleveland Cavs about stepping down.

A league source has told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the Cleveland Cavs may be looking for a new head coach sooner than expected, as the Michigan Wolverine’s basketball legend John Beilein, may have had enough of the NBA lifestyle. In a tweet posted mere minutes before the end of an exciting All-Star Game, Wojnarowski stated the team and coach were in talks about a potential exit but no decision has been made.

Should Beilein leave the team, there would be plenty of examples of why this might be for the best. There’s been much internal debate about whether or not the team was responding to his ‘college’ style. Frustrations with Kevin Love have been obvious and the play of top ten pick Collin Sexton has lead many to believe he should be coming off the bench as a sixth man, something that Beilein doesn’t feel inclined to do.

There was the whole situation with Beilein misspeaking and referring to his players as ‘thugs’, when he meant ‘slugs’. Beilein made the situation right and the players all seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt. Yet, the struggles on the court continued to mount. It’s entirely possible that Beilein stays on, as sometimes stories are much ado about nothing. Yet, this one feels incredibly likely. When players start leaking out things, and talking about how a coach has lost the team, that’s usually a sign the end is near.

J.B. Bickerstaff, the Cavs assistant head coach, might be the next in line to take over the chair if this does happen, as he apparently has a good report with the team as of right now. Yet, another new head coach would be hugely problematic for GM Koby Altman, who fired Tyronn Lue last season and replaced him with Larry Drew. That means the team would be on Altman’s fourth head coach should Beilein exit. With how poor the team has played, one has to start wondering if Altman wouldn’t be the next name to go. At a certain point, if the team is this dysfunctional, you have to look at the common denominator.