8:54pm: A person familiar with the Cavs coaching search told Tom Withers of The Associated Press that Cleveland has contacted Blatt in regards to their coaching job. The contact has not amounted to a formal interview at this point, reports Withers.
4:00pm: The Cavaliers may be interested in Maccabi Tel Aviv coach David Blatt for their own head coaching position, two sources tell Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer. Blatt has interviewed for assistant coaching positions with the Warriors and T’Wolves.
Blatt is a Massachusetts native who played for the legendary Pete Carril at Princeton, and, like his mentor, is widely viewed as an offensive genius. He boasts 30 years of experience overseas and also coached Russia to a bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, a team that featured Sergey Karasev. He may be an NBA neophyte but at 55 years old, he would bring both basketball and life experience.
For those of you keeping score at home, the Cavs have five candidates in the mix and are believed to have already interviewed Vinny Del Negro, Alvin Gentry, Lionel Hollins, Adrian Griffin, and Tyronn Lue. Recently it was reported that Blatt looks like Flip Saunders‘ top choice if he decides to bring on an assistant who he can groom to take over in Minnesota.