CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly added some NBA head coaching experience to new head coach John Beilein's staff on Sunday.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Cavs have named J.B. Bickerstaff to be the team's associate head coach. According to Wojnarowski, the Cavs have made the 40-year-old Bickerstaff one of the league's highest-paid assistants.
The son of former NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff -- who is currently an advisor with the Cavs and has been a part of the organization since 2013 -- J.B. Bickerstaff possesses close to three years of NBA head coaching experience, including a 71-game interim stint with the Houston Rockets (2015-16) and the past two seasons in Memphis with the Grizzlies. His record as a head coach is just 85-131, although his time in Memphis came during a rebuilding phase.
Wojnarowski adds that several teams were interested in Bickerstaff for similar top assistant positions, but Beilein and GM Koby Altman were able to convince him to come to Cleveland.
Bickerstaff was one of several candidates the Cavaliers brought in to interview for the head coaching vacancy prior to Beilein's hiring. Cleveland had largely focused its head coaching search on assistant coaches across the NBA, including Dallas Mavericks assistant Jamahl Mosley, Utah Jazz assistant Alex Jensen, San Antonio Spurs coach Ettore Messina and Denver Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr. among others.