[BREAKING]: Cavs Fire David Blatt; Sign Ty Lue to Multi-Year Deal As New Head Coach [UPDATED With David Blatt Statement]
2016-01-22According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Cleveland Cavaliers have fired Head Coach David Blatt.
Cleveland has fired coach David Blatt, sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 22, 2016
Also being reported is that Ty Lue has signed a multi-year deal to become the new Head Coach of the team.
Ty Lue has agreed to a three-year contract with Cavs, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 22, 2016
Blatt, who was 83-40 during his year and a half as the Coach of the Cavs, released this statement on the heels of his dismissal:
“I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as the Head Coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Blatt wrote in a statement released by Priority Sports and Entertainment on Friday. “I’d like to thank Dan Gilbert and David Griffin for giving me this opportunity and am honored to have worked with an amazing group of players from LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love through our entire roster.
“I’d also like to express my extreme gratitude to my coaching staff. I am indebted to them for their professionalism hard work, loyalty and friendship. I am proud of what we have accomplished since I have been the Head Coach and wish the Cavaliers nothing but the best this season and beyond.”
LeBron was reportedly not consulted on the decision according to sources quoted by Brian Windhorst.
LeBron James was informed of the decision to fire David Blatt today, he was not consulted on decision sources said
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) January 22, 2016
Check back for updates as we get them…
Here’s Tom Pestak discussing the Blatt firing on ESPN Radio.
https://soundcloud.com/dayton-radio/breaking-cavs-fire-blatt-tom-pestak-reacts-on-dss
The thing I can’t believe is that Chris Broussard didn’t hear this coming from all of his sauces…
Stu Jackson tweet…LMFAO…
Sources say reasons Blatt fired-@cavs didn’t want to pay his ticket to coach East @NBAAllStar and wanted him to return Coach of Month award
Stephen A. saying Lue is the guy willing to get in LeBron’s face when he takes a bad shot… I’ll believe THAT when I see it…
Did he say it… or did he scream it?
I don’t he has a voice other than his screaming voice…
Am listening to Jason Lloyd right now on The Fan… It just seems like Blatt was never accepted into the NBA by all the NBA lifers, not even just in the Cavs organization… Not sure it has anything to do with his actual coaching ability but on the ability to reach the players…
He mentioned the Nets game was actually the final straw, that folks around the locker room that night said there was just an odd, uncomfortable vibe.
Yeah… interesting stuff from Lloyd…
The nets game they won by 25 points? That was the last straw?
I’m sure the last straw was the Warriors game…wouldn’t have mattered if they had beaten the Nets by 60.
I was at a restaurant when the news broke. Entire restaurant was shocked. Main feeling is Cavs over reacted in this. Jokes were he didn’t suck enough for them to keep. Reference to Bryon Scott 3 yrs and Browns coaches avg duration 2years.
Just stunned at this! I hope this wasn’t about end of the bench veteran players crying they didn’t get minutes. Do we see the disappearance of Delly now because he not a popular guy in the locker room? What in the hell was this all about?
All I’ve heard is that LBJ loves Delly… have you heard different?
With Blatt gone, they can deal scrubs like Delly and Love and bring in some proven vets like Joe Johnson…
The rumor is that Blatt said it was either him or KLove… and Griff picked KLove…
We’ll see…wouldn’t be too surprised if both go…
Like I said in an earlier thread, coach Pop is no doubt very happy he never had to coach Lebron, even as he appreciates his greatness as a player.
Bet TWolves fans would be jumping for joy if they grabbed Blatt…would be a big upgrade over Mitchell…
I think for me, I always liked Blatt’s candor and affect in press conferences and dealing with the media. Its impossible for me to know if he was a good coach or not, but I liked him as a personality.
Unless your name is Popovich, its a player’s league. I’m not sure how Lue is going to make things better or worse, but we’ll see.
Blatt Statement
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZWyYhZWYAEuOlk.jpg
respectable but predictable
Classy to the end.
A good man, by every indication.
I added Blatt’s statement in the article above…
Cavs will be fine. LueBron will probably coach them to another Finals appearance. Hopefully w better health. Still the class of East.
David Blatt’s folks overseas said he was “thrown under the bus” and “saw it coming.” No surprise. – David Pick
Probably in a way a relief to get away from the political chicanery. If he doesn’t go back to international ball, pretty sure he can get on asan assistant next season in the NBA.
I hope Lue can get Mo Williams to play defense and shoot effectively.
You really need to take a deep breath and think about what Blatt brought to the table that you find so irreplaceable.
Don’t hold your breath. Mike Brown got about as much from Mo defensively as was possible. Even Mo admits he is what he is at this point.
If ever there was a comment that needed a /s…
Charlie E says:
January 22, 2016 at 4:46 pm
Great points.
“The David Blatt of my imagination was a great coach. ”
I think this is correct. People have this vision of Blatt being a great coach, but it doesn’t seem like he was the right man for this job.Blatt
David Griffin to address media at 5:45. That should be interesting…
This could be the beginning of the end for the Cavs title hopes. Watch LeBron take off again next off season. LOL….
I hate to say this, but I’m not going to very fair with Lue. If he succeeds great, but I will be very critical of him. Seems like LeBron is the coach now. Let’s see how Mike Brown 3.0 works now.
If Blatt was able to do what he did and STILL get fired, Lue is getting NO passes from me, unfortunately, I’m in the same place as you…
This is ridiculous in my opinion. He adjusted brilliantly on the fly in the finals and almost pulled it off.
Who could we even get that would be a better fit than Love?
David Zavac:
“I’ll say this too: Multiple people told me during the NBA Finals that Blatt was in trouble. During the NBA Finals. That the Cavs were in.”
Please people, think this through. LeBron has never forced a coach out.
MJ did
Magic did
the Warriors collectively did
Do not go off blaming the King.
Lol… He should hire you as his propaganda minister.
I think you are probably right. DG+DG probably knew LeBron would be OK with it, but they pulled the trigger. They might have had a understanding with LeBron, that if they did this, that LeBron would NOT be notified in advance, as a matter of principle and to keep his hands clean.
I hope the best for Blatt. He was 100 times better than Brown and Scott.
I am also optimistic that it is for the better. I doubt there will be any major trades. Of course, if they find another JRS + IS for nothing, go or it.
Would Coach Lue have this team in a better situation? I doubt it.
According to McMenamin
“according to a team source, Blatt firing means “everyone is in the crosshairs right now.” Pressure only mounts from here for Cavs.”
What does that mean? Are they blowing up the team?
How is this good at ALL for the teams chemistry? How can Kevin Love focus on getting better if he’s thinking he’s going to be traded… he signed this deal to get that comfort level…
Windy: “People have been telling me for months that David Blatt had lost the Cavs locker room…”
Of course Windy doesn’t tell anybody else till after the firing news breaks …
Same thing with Broussard, Stephen Smith and Windy. Supposed experts that say stuff after the fact. I only believe Jason LLoyd who said he almost wrote about Blatt losing the players after the Portland game.
Also, to my knowledge LeBron has never forced a coach out. So please let’s stop with the BLAME LEBRON posts.
Let’s see he had Brown and now Blatt fired so you’re wrong there.
He was a FA when they fired Brown. What are you talking about?
They fired Brown before LeBron left.
WAIT… does this mean that Ty Lue gets to be the EC Coach for the All Star Game?!
Yep. Congrats, coach Lue.
Well thats some reallllll BS.
Now we know the real reason for the odd timing. Lebron didn’t want to get benched in the ASG!
The general consensus is that people are upset about the nature and timing of the firing. But this was about the last chance to do it to this season to coalesce around a new coach. I have thought for awhile that either Blatt doesn’t know what he is doing or that he does and just doesn’t have the respect of the players. There is no way they did this without buy-in from LBJ. That would be monumentally stupid. The organization is all in to win NOW. Time is not on their side. If this were LBJ’s second season in the… Read more »
Peter VecseyVerified account
@PeterVecsey1
David Blatt told friends in Israel last week, “It’s either me or Kevin Love.” Just surprised LeBron didn’t decide sooner…
David Blatt told friends in Israel last week, “It’s either me or Kevin Love.” Just surprised LeBron didn’t decide sooner…
If that’s true we made the correct decision.
Might end up being both now…
Where did you hear this?
See the comment below
I heard this from a guy at work!
Who did you hear it from?
Peter VecseyVerified account
@PeterVecsey1
David Blatt told friends in Israel last week, “It’s either me or Kevin Love.” Just surprised LeBron didn’t decide sooner…
See Excl’s post from below. I pasted it from Twitter.
It sounds like no players liked Blatt. It’s a weird situation, but I think we should all think about working for someone we didn’t respect or like before we go off blaming the players or some such. Sounds like the move needed to be made and Blatt lost the lockeroom.
Come on people, think, don’t just panic.
Not sure that this is true. JR had a lot of great things to say about Blatt.
This doesn’t surprise me that much, and doesn’t upset me either. First, I think Blatt can be a great coach in this league. However, to implement his system, I think he needs a young team. He came to a team with LeBron James, who wasn’t going to change up his style after a decade in the league and two rings. This has been clear from day 1 – our offense is pretty much isolation basketball, and that simply isn’t Blatt’s system. With that said, I think management may have realized that hey, Blatt isn’t a bad coach, but he really… Read more »
Once again, Spoelstra was able to get LeBron, Wade, and Bosh to run maybe the most beautifult offense the NBA has ever seen after they lost to the Mavericks. I think Lue can do the same.
It was reported on 92.3 that it was Lebron who pushed to get Spoelstra fired in his 2nd year. Idk
Great points.
The David Blatt of my imagination was a great coach. The actual David Blatt was a pretty good coach, somewhat wasted on a superstar team.
Remember during the GS game thread when Nate asked if this game gets Blatt fired? Guess Nate was dead on…
Is Kevin Love on the block?
Windy: For the rest of LeBron’s life, this is going to be on his resume, that a guy 30-11 got fired. #Cavs
Oh, good. Now the Cavs are the Browns. Maybe Chudzinski is available.
So, does that mean Lebron gave the order? *snicker*
So if the Cavs lose in the finals, does this mean that Lue will get fired. Then the Cavs will still be coaching Brown, Blatt, Lue, and the new coach.
Cleveland … where coaches go to die … within two years or less.
So I wonder if Blatt takes the assistant job that he was all set to take at Golden State before he came to the Cavs. If he wins a ring there, would he fax a picture of it to Lebron on his middle finger?
I would…………..
That would be the ultimate irony if Blattt goes to GS. Now that he’s been a head coach though, I doubt he takes an assistant’s job.
I really don’t get why everyone supports Blatt on this blog. The guy hasn’t made any great moves or anything. I agree the timing sucks, but I don’t care about Blatt one way or the other. Get a coach the players like and respect. If Blatt was a genius, then sure, back him. But he wasn’t.
I think we all agree it is the timing of it.
I’m sure Blatt was a great coach. He led us to sweep ATL, who we were barely favored against, and almost went up 3-0 in the Finals. He had an offensive system, that obviously worked, but the players did not like for whatever reason. But, sadly, LeBron again wouldn’t listen to a coach. It seems like once the players saw LeBrons frustration with him, it trickled down and screwed over Blatt. Blatt was a coach who (rightfully) wanted authority, but the Cavaliers are a team, led by LeBron James, who can’t seem to respond to coaches like him. I feel… Read more »
Going back to the 2014 summer league, the offense would run pretty nicely when Delly was in running it, but grind to a halt when LeBron was in.
Sources told ESPN’s Chris Broussard that many Cavs players, especially the veterans, felt like Blatt was in over his head as coach. They questioned whether he knew the league well enough to lead them to a championship.
LeBron James was not consulted before the Cavaliers made the move to dismiss Blatt and was informed of the decision Friday, sources told Windhorst. The decision to fire Blatt was “entirely” up to general manager David Griffin, a league source told ESPN.com.
So the crappy veterans want more playing time. Time to watch Mo Williams get torched by opposing guards I guess?
What? Why so negative dude. This could be the springboard to a title.
We should trade Mo for a second round pick. He stinks!
Give me a break, dude. You can be a Delly fan without hating Mo.
Jason Lloyd tweeted that the players tolerated Blat when they won, blamed him when they lost. Said he almost wrote an article after the Blazers game, but they beat the Suns and he held off.
We’ll see who they blame next time they get boatraced.
The players, presumably having gotten what they wanted now, will be under more pressure to win. No excuses now.
Agree with this. I don’t want to hear any more excuses. You guys got what you wanted, put the F up now, or shut the F up.
He has the highest winning percentage in Cavs history.
Well Blatt was brought in to do a different job and Lebron shook that up. But damn if Gilbert doesn’t keep us on our toes these last 5 years.
I really liked David Blatt, he will find another coaching job.
I am totally shockeddd!!!
BLATT WAS GETTING RESULTS
Cavaliers had won nearly 68 percent of their games under David Blatt. The Warriors, Spurs and Hawks were the only teams with a better mark in the last two seasons.
Guess the next domino to fall would be Moz for Markieff… especially if NOMAD in fact won the powerball and is now in charge…
NOMAD, oh NOMAD…
If they’re gonna do this much, should we expect some other changes to come? Maybe some trades?
See above with the Mozzy rumors from last week or two. I don’t like shaking up team chemistry midway thru AGAIN.
I wouldn’t rule anything out right now.
So what happens if the Spurs come in to the Q and smoke the Cleveland Lues by 30?
Then Lue is gone and Mark Jackson gets a multi.
Sweet, can’t wait! I know they’ll find the right coaching rotation eventually…
@cavsdan wants to end up paying every coach in the NBA…
Blatt is going to be an assistant with the Browns.
Genius comment!
You win the internet today!
Lets see these new rotations. We gonna see some Mo Williams??
Did Leu bring a fountain of youth or something? The only guy Mo is better than anymore is Joe Harris, and only since he got traded.
Ultimately, if they can figure it out with Coach Lue, then this will all be forgotten. I just thought he got screwed and was in a no win situation.
Apparently LeBron and Maverick Carter have been strong supporters of Lue becoming a head coach.
Wonder if Rich Paul did the negotiations… /s
I’m sorry it was Rich Paul not Maverick.
Before the Lue announcement… the thought entered my brain that with Kerr returning tonight, the Cavs had made some sort of behind the scenes agreement to bring in Luke Walton to replace Blatt…
Ha, first thought to cross my mind as well. But just for a second. Lue seemed like the go to in the interim.
Walton was my second choice after Leu.
I hope Blatt gets a fair shot somewhere else. I thought he got treated unfairly. These are the type of moves that bad organizations make. How many head coaches are the Cavs paying now?
I’d bet JoeyB’s $12B that he goes back to the EuroLeague…
I was about to suggest that I hope he does. After his experience in the NBA he probably just wants to get back to actually coaching without all the extra BS.
He never seemed much more than average or just slightly above average. I don’t like the move in midseason, but it’s not like Blatt had shown us anything where we are going to regret losing him.
Agree here…a year and a half in it’s pretty clear that Blatt was pretty average, at least when it came to coaching a veteran team with stars and egos. To be fair to him I’m not sure this squad could be coachable enough to really see if his system could shine. Lebron does what Lebron wants.
Hope he finds another team soon. Would love to see what he could do with a roster like Boston or Indy.
I think he did a great job in the playoffs. If Delly could have kept drinking coffee, we would have won it.
Maybe Steve Kerr can hire Blatt as an assistant this offseason, or maybe Walton will hire him when he takes the Lakers job.
To be clear, I don’t think Blatt has proven he’s a coaching genius in the NBA…but this seems like a garbage move to do this midseason.
omg.
This is crazy. What the hell?!
I feel bad for Blatt. They may be burning LeBron’s jersey in the streets of Tel Aviv tonight.
Well, of course it was going to be Lue. I just figured it would happen after the season. This is a super high risk move. There’s only one way it pays off and many ways it doesn’t work out. Mozgov on the trading block, now?
Last night was a nice win, too.
I’d be willing to bet Mozzy is on the block. He was always Blatt’s guy…
Good point… probably the same sources that Woj got that story from…
I hope Moz NOT on the block. That would be selling at a low point. Who you going to find who is a lot better? The last two games show that you have to gameplan to get max return from Moz and Lov.
And, what if the Cavs get a team with a dominating big man, say Drummund, in the playoffs? Moz would look pretty good then.
This is ridiculous! I can’t believe they’ve fired Blatt!!!! This seems like a total panic move.
It’s up to EG to supply the panic button
All the panickers in the gamethreads brought this on!
I want to be clear about this.
I don’t think Blatt should’ve been fired, I think he should’ve been given to the end of the year and if they lost, then sure, fire him.
That being said, there isn’t much evidence that Blatt was a good coach. He did make some good defensive adjustments in last year’s playoffs. But the players never bought into what he was selling. His rotations were always sort of weird. And he, at times, seems overmatched.
I don’t mind moving on from an averagish coach. It’s the timing that bugs me.
Pretty much agree, BUT, LeBron is not getting any younger, so the Cavs gotta go full in every year.
Not much evidence that Blatt was a good coach. Aside from totally changing the team’s identity during the playoffs after losing Love and Irving.
I don’t buy that Lebron was not consulted. Maybe he didn’t make the order, but he was on board, or they wouldn’t have done this. I guess Lue will magically make them the equal of the Warriors with his magic beans.
GSW fired Mark Jackson and turned into the GSW we now know.
Yes. It immediately follows that Lue will do the same thing with the Cavs. But maybe Lue will stop Lebron from pounding the ball into submission at the top of the key. That would be real coaching wizardry.
Agree with the comments so far. This is out of left field. Not sure I’m happy at all with the timing. Something must be rotten behind closed doors.
HOLY CRAP.
This makes no sense!!! only possible explanation is:
1.) The Cavs Brass Panicked
2.) The Cavs Brass read Cavs:TheBlog and saw Nate and I discussing whether Blatt should be fired bc of GS beatdown and thought – that’s the SIGNAL.
Look what you guys did! LOOK AT IT!
I fully blame you and Nate. Until hearing otherwise, I’m operating on this assumption. /s
Didn’t Nate say he was the GM? Ugh Nate.
Someone better make sure NOMAD didn’t hit the powerball without us knowing…
My guess is that DG+DG thought Lue was ready and better, and asked LeBron if the time was right, and he said yes. Of course they will maintain LeBron was not consulted.
What does Blatt’s winning percentage turn out to be?
I like Blatt, and hope he lands on his feet. He can go back to being the best Euro-coach ever.
Wow again, multi for Lue. So this was brewing for awhile.
Lebron NOT consulted. I don’t like it. You don’t F with chemistry like that.
You believe that I have a bridge……
Waiting for a statement by david griffin, where are ya man?! We need some clarity!
Wow. There must be things going on in the locker room not made public. The way the players talked positively after the Clippers game about what Blatt was asking, I wonder if even they had any inkling?
I don’t get this at all. It had to be something stemming from the players because its a dumb management move.
THE TIMING OF THIS MAKES NO SENSE!! the only reason I can think of for the timing is that the locker room was much worse than we could possibly predict… no other reason to do it now. This could be more disheartening than Monday night…
I do not like replacing coaches midstream.
Wow, I was not expecting that. OK. Hopefully Lue can get the respect of the players more than Blatt.
lol cols is already over it. MOVING ON.
GREATNESS AWAITS
Agree with Cols. I thought the Cavs had turned a corner after the dubs fiasco. The main change that can be made is getting Moz and Love playing better. LeBron looked like he was taking a much more positive and encouraging “father role” with Moz, which might spell the difference between winning in six versus losing in six. Hope this helps. P.S., I (and most of us) overreacted to the big loss Monday. In retrospect, that was a perfect storm trap game. Can any database types check for how often an eventual champion had a 30 or 35 point loss… Read more »