Cavs preview: Is J.B. Bickerstaff the next great Cavs' coach ... or just the next ex-coach?

In the pantheon of Cavs coaches, dating all the way back to the expansion season of 1970-71, when rookie coach Bill Fitch's modestly skilled gym rats lost the first 15 games in franchise history on their way to other won-loss checkpoints of 1-27, 2-34, 5-44 and 11-57, before flat-lining at a final 15-67 car wreck, there have been 24 men brave enough to have willingly coached the Cleveland Cavaliers. In truth, however, the Cavs' collage of coaches consists of three true epochs: the Fitch years (1970-71 to 1978-79), the Lenny Wilkens years (1986-87 to 1992-93) and the Mike Fratello years (1993-94 to 1998-99). The rest of it is mostly yada, yada, yada. Even the franchise's lone championship season, in 2015-16, required two mechanics. David Blatt put a knock in the engine. Ty Lue made it hum. Fitch took a beating in his nine seasons as Cavs coach, but it wasn't his fault, it was the inventory. Two seasons after leaving the Cavs, Fitch was hired by the Celtics and in his second season they were World Champions. Wilkens took the Cavs to the playoffs in five of his seven years as coach, and Fratello did the same in four of his six years on the job. Coaching in those days wasn't as hard as it is today. In those days the NBA ran the NBA. Today, the players pick the teams and run the league. Coaching in the NBA in today's game might be the hardest coaching or managing job in professional sports. That's one reason why the turnover in NBA coaching is so rapid. Remember John Beilein? He was a whiz bang, highly decorated college coach at the University of Michigan. The Cavs offered him a big bag of money to come to Cleveland and straighten out the team. If you call a record of 19-46 "straightened out," Beilein succeeded, although he jumped off the train at the 14-40 marker. Beilein's abrupt bye-bye was an indication of how hard it is to not just coach in the NBA, but to coach well. To have a good record. To have staying power. There aren't a lot of guys out there who can do it. There ARE a lot of guys out there who thought they could do it, tried to do it, then found out they couldn't. How hard is coaching in the NBA? In the 1981-82 season, the Cavs' owner was legendary loose cannon Ted Stepien, who hired and fired four head coaches to get through the season. One of the coaches was Hall of Famer Chuck Daly, who, after getting fired by Stepien, coached the Pistons to back-to-back NBA titles. Starting in 1987-88, Wilkens- and Fratello-coached Cavs teams went to the playoffs nine times in 11 seasons. Then came some yada-yada years before Mike Brown was hired, and some guy named LeBron was drafted. A few years later, LeBron left. A few years later he came back. The coach then was David Blatt, who went "splat" after a year and a half. Lue took over, took the Cavs to the Finals, and, in 2016, the Cavs were NBA champs. Then LeBron left again. Then Lue left. Then Beilein came and went, and Cavs fans woke up one morning and J.B. Bickerstaff was the coach. That's where we are now ... but for how much longer? In the NBA, and in all sports, really, coaches and managers are only temporary employees. In the NBA specifically, where coaching can be extremely hard because the players, not the coaches, run the league, most coaches, when it comes to housing, would be wise to rent, not buy. In NBA coaching especially, you're only as good as your last trip to the playoffs. In his first three seasons, plus 11 games, Bickerstaff's Cavs have had one trip to the playoffs. That was last year, when the 51-win Cavs were stampeded out of the playoffs by the bruising New York Knicks, who had won four fewer games than the Cavs during the regular season. The coming NBA season is an extremely important one for the Cavs, and for their coach. Whether franchise fulcrum Donovan Mitchell decides to commit to the team long term will likely be determined by whether the Cavs reach the playoffs again, and how far they go this time. The Cavs roster has been significantly upgraded since last season, particularly with the addition of sharp shooters Max Strus and Georges Niang. They've also added some much-needed muscle with the return of Tristan Thompson. The Cavs' win total has improved in each of Bickerstaff's three full years as coach: from 24 to 44 to 51. Just making the playoffs won't cut it this year. The Cavs must get there and, unlike last year, stay there for longer than a cup of coffee. Mitchell's long-term future with the organization might depend on it. So might Bickerstaff's. Contact Jim Ingraham at (440) 329-7135 or jingraham4@gmail.com.