Sources - Cavs to take time to evaluate J.B. Bickerstaff's future - ESPN

BOSTON — After Cleveland saw its season end in a 113-98 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Wednesday night, Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he wants to continue being the team's head coach.

«Yeah,» Bickerstaff said when asked that during his postgame news conference. «We have continued to build this thing the right way. Every single year we've improved, continued to get better, play-in, playoffs, win a round… players have gotten better. Guys have had great years.

»This is definitely a place I want to be."

When Bickerstaff was later asked if it was a place he expects to be, he laughed and said, «I mean, no one's told me I'm not.

»So, I'll keep showing up 'til they tell me not to."

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, citing sources, reported Wednesday that the Cavaliers plan to take time to evaluate Bickerstaff's future, but the organization remains fond of him. Bickerstaff has been the head coach in Cleveland for four-plus seasons, having led the franchise to back-to-back playoff berths, including winning a first-round series against the Orlando Magic in these playoffs — a feat the franchise hadn't done at all since 2018, and hadn't done without LeBron James on the roster since 1993.

But Bickerstaff's future is far from the only question surrounding the Cavaliers as they head into the offseason — and arguably isn't the biggest one. That is what the future will hold for Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell, who sat out Game 5 with a left calf strain, the same injury that kept him out of Game 4.

Mitchell, who was acquired by the Cavaliers 18 months ago for a package of Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and several future first-round picks, has had back-to-back All-Star seasons in Cleveland,