The Cleveland Cavaliers have parted ways with J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach.

Bickerstaff led the Cavaliers to a first round series win over the Orlando Magic, but were eliminated in the second round by the Boston Celtics in five games.

Shortly after the Cavaliers lost Game 5 to the Celtics, a report from The Athletic detailed why the franchise was considering a coaching change this offseason.

Bickerstaff was elevated to head coach of the Cavaliers in 2020 following the resignation of John Beilein. 

Kenny Atkinson and James Borrego have emerged as early candidates for the Cleveland Cavaliers' head coaching vacancy. 

Atkinson was last a head coach in 2020 with the Brooklyn Nets where he coached current Cavaliers Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert. Atkinson has most recently been an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors.

Borrego was previously a head coach with the Charlotte Hornets and is currently an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans. 

Cleveland parted ways with J.B. Bickerstaff this week.

The Los Angeles Lakers are only in the preliminary stages of their head coaching search with J.J. Redick and James Borrego among the prominent candidates. Finalizing a decision is not expected to occur in the near future.

"They are in no rush in this search," said Adrian Wojnarowski. "I think there are candidates feeling the Lakers out, the Lakers feeling them out. This process is going to take awhile. There is no obvious choice. There just isn't. There is no star coach available that you would short circuit a search to hire.

"J.J. Redick's name has been prominent in this. He and Rob Pelinka really don't know each other very well. I think that's going to be a process to see potentially if they can work together."

There has been some speculation that ESPN would prefer Redick not to be hired for a head coaching job until he finishes his broadcast duties of the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals. 

Chris Paul has been linked with both the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs should he leave the Golden State Warriors this offseason.

Paul is on a non-guaranteed salary worth $30 million that the Warriors have yet to make a decision on. With a June 28th deadline, the Warriors and Paul could mutually agree to extend the deadline with the possibility of a trade using his salary as ballast. There could be a number of additional trade possibilities available to the Warriors if the deadline is extended, while Paul increases his chances of earning the additional salary for 24-25.

In 58 games last season, Paul averaged 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 26.4 minutes. 

Paul is represented by Steven Heumann and Ty Sullivan of CAA.

The Philadelphia 76ers internally are viewing their offseason with upwards of $60 million in cap space as a highly unique situation similar to when the Golden State Warriors had enough cap space to add Kevin Durant to their 73-win roster, sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. Throughout his tenure in the NBA, Daryl Morey has steadfastly believed that teams need multiple superstars in order to truly contend for a title. 

The Sixers can add a max contract player to their core of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Maxey will be a restricted free agent on a discounted cap hold.

It is rare for teams to be have that amount of flexibility to add a third max player to an MVP and a young player about to hit his first max contract. The Sixers are willing to spend future money and sacrifice draft capital this offseason to improve their roster. 

Paul George appears to be the best player who will possibly hit the open market as he and the Los Angeles Clippers have been unable to agree to an extension. 

The Warriors, however, were able to add Durant to a roster that also included Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. 

Luka Doncic is eligible to sign a $346 super max extension in 2025 after making the 2024 All-NBA First Team.

It would be the largest contract in NBA history, with Doncic eligible to make $78 million in the 2030-31 season.

The NBA salary cap is also likely to eclipse $200 million in the 2028-29 season. 

Game 1 between the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics averaged 6.48 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes.

It is the most-watched Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 since Cavs-Celtics in 2018.

The viewership, an 8% increase from last year, also represents the third most-watched game of this year's playoffs. 

John and Nate discuss the value of some of the biggest trade candidates of the 2024 offseason. Who might ask out, and who will their teams be willing to move? It’s going to be a fascinating offseason with the complications of the new Second Apron and teams looking to move good players but also improve on the floor.

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The Phoenix Suns announced that their new G League affiliate will be called the Valley Suns. The team will begin play with the 2024-25 G League season.

Phoenix sold their G League affiliate to the Detroit Pistons ahead of the 2021-22 season. Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein was part of making that acquisition happen for the Pistons. Now, he's on the other side of bringing a G League affiliate back to the Suns organization.

“Ironically enough, I was the one on the other side buying the team from the Suns and getting it to Detroit, and now three years later, I’m here,” Bartelstein laughed. “It’s really, really important. I mean, the G-League is a staple of many NBA franchises.”

The Suns had been the only team without a G League affiliate. The Portland Trail Blazers launched the Rip City Remix last season, leaving Phoenix the lone unaffiliated NBA franchise.

The G League now has 31 teams. The Mexico City Capitanes are the only unaffiliated G League team, as G League Ignite has ceased operations.