Cavaliers hire John Beilein

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been reported to have been traveling to various cities around the country to interview assistants from playoff teams to become the next head coach of the Cavaliers.
Dan Gilbert decided to make a splash on the night before the draft lottery with Duke forward Zion Williamson as the biggest prize and dropped the proverbial bombshell with the hiring of Michigan head coach John Beilein to the same position in Cleveland.

The 66-year-old Beilein will be the oldest coach in NBA history to make his debut as a full-time coach  (there have been a few older coaches that have filled in as an interim head coach) and has never served with an NBA team in any capacity.
Beilein has won 754 games in six stops including successful runs at Richmond, West Virginia, and Michigan where he took Michigan to the national title game twice and West Virginia to the elite eight and an NIT championship.

It's an interesting hire, but not a surprising one when you consider anyone that has worked in basketball for any school or franchise that is in the state of Michigan always seems to get consideration for jobs with the Cavaliers because of Dan Gilbert.
Gilbert is an alum of Michigan State, not Michigan and it's been Tom Izzo that has been rumored for years to be the apple of Gilbert's eye, not Beilein.
However, if you look at things closely, it could be Beilein that might be better suited for the pro game of the two coaches and Beilein's coaching style that could deal better with the players.
The NBA game that has evolved as of now has been to a three-point shooting game and Beilein's system should play very well with that as his teams aren't afraid to fire the three ball, yet it's one built around the passing game and it's not one that builds around one star either.
Beilein's system will be different for Cleveland fans used to years of watching clearout basketball to open the floor for Kyrie Irving or LeBron James as it will be more team-oriented revolving around finding the open man for the open shot or a cutter to the basket.

I know many of you would be surprised to read that I've always been a Beilein fan and was very disappointed when the Wolverines were able to hire him twelve years ago.
Check this out from the seventh post here EVER when I mention my thoughts on Beilein's going north and for a bonus, read some thoughts on Greg Oden vs Kevin Durant too, in which I turned out to be pretty clairvoyant in saying why I would take the bigger Oden vs Durant, except for one reason that turned out to be what happened.
I think that surrounding him with a staff that knows the league will be important and I think Beilein is smart enough to understand that and has an ego small enough that wouldn't reject such a plan.
College coaches have had mixed success when they have moved to the pros, so it's not a guarantee that Beilein will succeed, but he has the type of temperament that makes me think that he has a better than average chance of turning things around in Cleveland, if the Cavaliers have the patience to allow the process to flow along.

I was surprised to see John Beilein as the choice, but not disappointed by it.
Beilein isn't a me first coach, relates to players well and will install a value system that has never seen a team of his investigated by the NCAA or commit recruiting violations, so despite his age, I think this has a chance to work.
Beilein signed a five-year contract and a lot will have to go right for the Cavaliers to be championship contenders by then, but it could be the hire that overhauls the Cavaliers from being the franchise that LeBron built and creates a San Antonio Spurs type culture that players buy into and want to play for, even if when the Cavaliers finally reach that destination it could be under the successor to John Beilein.