Latest On David Blatt
Fired Cavaliers coach David Blatt is already drawing interest from the Nets, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter link). Chatter is connecting him to the Timberwolves, notes international journalist David Pick, and Kyler says Blatt’s name has also been linked to the Lakers (Twitter links). Blatt and Brooklyn have a natural connection, given his time as coach of the Russian national team and the presence of Russian Mikhail Prokhorov as Nets owner.
Cleveland GM David Griffin said it was behind-the-scenes issues rather than on-court performance that doomed Blatt, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavs compiled a 30-11 record through the first half of this season, but Griffin was unhappy with the atmosphere in the locker room and thought a change was necessary. “I’ve never seen a locker room not be as connected after wins as they need to be,” Griffin said. “We’ve only been galvanized when expectations were not high and circumstances were somewhat artificial. Otherwise, we’ve been a group of tremendous individual talent with individual hopes and dreams. That’s not a winning formula. I’m not leaving an unprecedented team payroll and all of the efforts of everybody that works in this organization to chance.”
Speaking to the media tonight, new coach Tyronn Lue said the Cavaliers don’t enjoy playing the game, tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal. Lue also made an appeal for Blatt to be the Eastern Conference coach in the All-Star Game, tweets Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, but a league source who spoke with Haynes shot down that possibility (Twitter link).
The reaction to Friday’s firing continues to pour in from around the league:
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy has been an outspoken critic of the move, writes David Mayo of MLive. Van Gundy expressed dismay that Blatt was let go despite taking the Cavs to the NBA Finals last year and compiling the best record in the East this season. “You can’t even make a flimsy case for the fact that the guy wasn’t meeting expectations,” Van Gundy said. “So obviously, there’s something else going on, and that’s what I’m saying — none of us now has any clue, whatsoever, what the expectations for coaches are.”
- To be successful, Lue needs the full support that the Cavaliers were never willing to give to Blatt, contends Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. As a former player and respected assistant coach, Lue has the advantage of being an NBA insider, which Zillgitt believes will make it easier for him to relate to players than it was for Blatt.
- Blatt turned out to be the wrong coach at the wrong time, and the Cavaliers wasted a year and a half of James’ career by not firing him sooner, writes Tim Kawakami of The Bay Area News Group. He contrasts that with the situation in Golden State, where the Warriors dumped Mark Jackson after the 2013/14 season even though they knew it would upset Stephen Curry because they believed Steve Kerr would be a better coach for their star.
Chuck Myron contributed to this story.
Dead Money: Central Division
Not every dollar of each team’s payroll shows up on the court, as franchises often dish out funds to players who are no longer on their rosters. Players with guaranteed money who are waived, either through a standard waiver release, use of the stretch provision, or when a buyout arrangement is reached, still count against a team’s cap figure for the duration of their contracts, or the amount of time specified by the collective bargaining agreement for when a player’s salary is stretched.
There are even situations that arise, like the one with JaVale McGee and the Sixers, where these players are actually the highest-paid on the team. McGee is set to collect $12MM from Philly, and he won’t score one point or collect one rebound for the franchise this season. The next highest-paid athlete for the Sixers is Gerald Wallace, who was also waived, and he is scheduled to earn $10,105,855 for the 2015/16 campaign. In fact, the total payroll for the Sixers’ entire active roster this season is $32,203,553, which is merely $3,709,857 more than the amount being paid to players no longer on the team!
Listed below are the names and cap hits associated with players who are no longer on the rosters of teams in the Central Division:
Chicago Bulls
- Richard Hamilton (Waived via stretch provision) — $333,333
Total= $333,333
Cleveland Cavaliers
- None
Detroit Pistons
- Josh Smith (Waived via stretch provision) — $5,400,000
- Danny Granger (Waived) — $2,170,465
- Cartier Martin (Waived) — $1,270,964
- Aaron Gray (Waived via stretch provision) — $452,049
- Adonis Thomas (Waived) — $60,000
Total= $9,353,478
Indiana Pacers
- Toney Douglas (Waived) — $600,000
- Terran Petteway (Waived) — $6,178
Total= $606,178
Milwaukee Bucks
- Larry Sanders (Waived via stretch provision) — $1,865,547
Total= $1,865,547
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
And-Ones: Del Negro, Lue, D-League
The rash of injuries the Heat have suffered this season are taking a toll on the players, who have been asked to log significantly more minutes than normal as a result, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “The toughest part about it is that you always worry about the health of your teammate, first and foremost,” Chris Bosh said. “You always want guys to be as healthy as possible, but when it’s another guy going down, it’s just tough. Two weeks ago, we were going into a West Coast road trip, really trying to prove ourselves with a whole roster and now we’ve got six guys out. It’s just a tough pill to swallow.”
While the situation is far from ideal, Bosh did note that the team’s younger players were benefiting from the increased playing time, Kennedy adds. “We’re constantly just trying to digest what’s going on, take the hit on the chin and then regroup,” Bosh continued. “Our young guys are trying [to fill in], but they’re inexperienced and they’re really learning on the fly. I think the best part about it is it’s going to help us in the long run because these guys are getting minutes under stressful situations, and that’s how it’s going to be later on.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Celtics big man Jared Sullinger is a big fan of new Cavs coach Tyronn Lue, and he raves about the former Boston assistant’s demeanor and knowledge, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. “I like Ty Lue,” Sullinger told Blakely. “He knows a lot about the game. He helped me out big-time when he was here, as far as helping me stay calm, staying confident and just staying ready at all times.”
- Vinny Del Negro expects to coach in the NBA again, as he told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports in an appearance on the “The Vertical” podcast. Del Negro confirmed that he has had interviews with the Pelicans, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Cavaliers since the Clippers let him go in 2013, adding that he had extensive player personnel duties in his final year with L.A. “From Jamal Crawford to Matt Barnes to Chauncey [Billups] to Grant [Hill] to everyone, doing the sign-and-trade for Willie Green, everything that was involved. All the front office did was the paperwork,” Del Negro said (audio link, scroll to 28-minute mark).
- The Rockets have assigned Montrezl Harrell and K.J. McDaniels to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This will be Harrell’s third trek to Rio Grande Valley and McDaniels’ fifth on the season.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Cavaliers Notes: Jackson, Blatt, Lue
Former Cavs big man Brendan Haywood has maintained close ties with members of the Cleveland organization and says that former coach David Blatt lost the locker room due to his reticence to challenge LeBron James, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com relays. In an interview on Sirius XM’s NBA Today channel, Haywood said, “Coach Blatt was very hesitant to challenge LeBron James. It was one of those situations where, being a rookie coach, and LeBron being bigger than life, it was a little too much for him. I remember we had James Jones [talk] to Coach about how, ‘Hey, you can’t just skip over when LeBron James makes a mistake in the film room.’ Because we all see it. And we’re like, ‘Hey, you didn’t say anything about that. You’re going to correct when Matthew Dellavedova‘s not in the right spot. You’re going to say something when Tristan Thompson‘s not in the right spot. Well, we see a fast break and LeBron didn’t get back on defense or there’s a rotation and he’s supposed to be there, and you just keep rolling the film and the whole room is quiet.’ We see that as players. That’s when … as a player, you start to lose respect for a coach.”
Here’s the latest out of Cleveland:
- Tyronn Lue‘s three year contract calls for him to make a prorated $3MM for this season, $3MM for the 2016/17 campaign and the final year is a team option worth $3.5MM, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link).
- James and his agent, Rich Paul, had been trying to get Blatt replaced with former Warriors coach Mark Jackson since last season, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports writes. Once it became apparent that the Cavs would not hire Jackson, Lue became James’ and Klutch Sports’ fallback option, though Lue’s refusal to sign with the agency for representation leaves him in a position where he needs to have immediate success, Wojnarowski adds. The Yahoo scribe also notes that Lue considered taking the position as an interim one, but instead decided to take the security of a longer deal.
- Mavs coach Rick Carlisle called the Cavs’ decision to part ways with Blatt an embarrassment to the league and believes Blatt will land another NBA position, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News writes. “It’s a shocker. It’s just a real shocker,” Carlisle said regarding Blatt’s dismissal. “The bottom line with this is that I know a couple of things about coaching in this league. I know integrity. And I know knowledge. I can’t speak to the internal things that [might] have gone on in Cleveland. I’ve read some of the comments that came from the Cavaliers. Teams have a right to make changes. But David Blatt is going to be a highly sought-after coach this summer, if and when there are openings — if he chooses to stay. After this, you just hope a guy like this is still open to coaching in the NBA.“
And-Ones: Blatt, Davis, Clippers
Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert said that it was a difficult choice to fire David Blatt, but also noted that it was ultimately GM David Griffin‘s decision to do so, according to his official statement (h/t NBA.com). “Over the course of my business career I have learned that sometimes the hardest thing to do is also the right thing to do,” said Gilbert “Our ownership group supports David Griffin’s decision. We would like to thank David Blatt for his work over these past two seasons where the Cavaliers transformed into a playoff team after a rebuilding phase. We believe Tyronn Lue is the right coach at the right time to put us in the best position to take the last but most challenging step to complete our mission to deliver Cleveland an NBA Championship.”
“On behalf of the organization, I would like to thank David Blatt for his efforts and commitment to this franchise,” Griffin said. “He spent the last year and a half battling intense scrutiny, working to mold a very willful group and we all recognize that is not at all an easy task.”
Here’s more from around the NBA:
- The Clippers made two moves today, sending Josh Smith to the Rockets via trade and agreeing to sign Jeff Ayres to a 10-day deal, and coach/executive Doc Rivers indicated that the team may stand pat the rest of the season as far as roster moves are concerned, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times tweets.
- Multiple NBA D-League teams have invited free agent Baron Davis to practice with them in advance of a possible signing, but the veteran has declined all such offers to date, Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor relays (on Twitter). Davis cleared D-League waivers last week after going unclaimed by the league’s 19 teams.
- The Rockets were sent precisely $456,921 by Los Angeles as part of the Smith trade, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter).
Cavs Notes: Blatt, Lue, Love
Former Cavaliers coach David Blatt, who was fired earlier today, released a statement regarding his departure (h/t Priority Sports). “I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as the Head Coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Blatt wrote. “I’d like to thank [team owner] Dan Gilbert and [GM] 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.”
Here’s more from Cleveland amid a day of big changes:
- Griffin denied that the team gave Tyronn Lue a contract extension but noted that Lue was named head coach without the interim title, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter). Griffin made his remarks during a press conference to announce the team’s coaching change. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports heard from league sources that Lue was given a new three-year deal worth approximately $9.5MM (Twitter link).
- The Cavs’ players were taken completely by surprise by Blatt’s firing, and when a team meeting was called to announce the move many of them thought it was because Love had been traded, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter).
- There may be some players on the team who aren’t happy about the decision to part ways with Blatt, but Griffin said it was a move they would have to respect regardless of their feelings, Sam Amico of Amico Hoops tweets.
- The franchise was concerned that Blatt was reluctant to consistently challenge LeBron, who is a coachable player whose respect must first be earned, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets.
Cavs Fire David Blatt, Replace Him With Tyronn Lue
3:42pm: GM David Griffin was the catalyst for the change, a source tells Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). He didn’t consult any of the players, according to Haynes (on Twitter), and he convinced the owners that the team wasn’t performing up to expectations, Lloyd adds.
2:54pm: The Cavs have fired head coach David Blatt and reached agreement on a three-year deal with Tyronn Lue to replace him, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links here). Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer first reported that Lue, who had been serving as the team’s lead assistant, would take over the head coaching job (Twitter link). The timing of the move is a surprise, coming off the team’s win against the Clippers on Thursday, one that helped erase at least some of the memories of the team’s blowout loss to the Warriors on Monday. Discontent had been growing in the Cleveland locker room, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, noting that the dissatisfaction dates back nearly to the beginning of Blatt’s tenure last season. Owner Dan Gilbert had been a fervent supporter of Blatt, Windhorst adds (Twitter link), but it appears the owner has finally seen fit for a change.
Chatter that LeBron James and others on the Cavs were done with Blatt had been building recently, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick, but the team’s brass didn’t consult James on the decision, according to Windhorst (on Twitter). Still, the organization knew that James likes Lue and has wanted to have a former NBA player as coach, Windhorst adds (Twitter link). James and agent Rich Paul have been strong advocates of Lue taking over for Blatt since last season, league sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Windhorst suggested earlier this week, after the Warriors loss, that Blatt’s job hung in the balance of how well the team performed the rest of the season. Blatt said dire assessments of the team’s future in the wake of the blowout were overstated, but it appears the coach was in an even more tenuous situation than most realized.
The Cavs made Lue the highest-paid NBA assistant coach ever when they hired him to Blatt’s staff in 2014. He reportedly interviewed twice for the head coaching job before the team instead gave it to Blatt. Lue played 11 seasons in the NBA, the last of which was 2008/09. He joined the Celtics staff the next season and followed Doc Rivers to the Clippers where he continued as an assistant coach before heading to Cleveland. This will be his first job as a head coach.
Blatt went 83-40 in the regular season and 14-6 in the playoffs during his season and a half in charge of the Cavs, a team with the highest of expectations. James returned to Cleveland from his time with the Heat just weeks after the Cavs hired Blatt, and that drastically changed the nature of the job, which became a win-or-else proposition as the team moved away from rebuilding and positioned itself to win immediately.
The relationship between James and Blatt drew close scrutiny, but Blatt’s brusque personality rubbed many the wrong way, and James was far from the only one who had issues, notes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter links). Still, Blatt has seemed on much more solid footing this year than he was early last season, when the Cavs started 19-20, a sluggish beginning that reportedly prompted worry from the team’s brass about the coach’s job performance.
Is changing out Blatt for Lue the right move for the Cavs? Leave a comment to tell us.
Central Notes: Blatt, Van Gundy, Bulls
Cavaliers coach David Blatt isn’t a fan of the idea that Monday’s blowout loss to the Warriors signaled deep-running problems for his team, as Tom Withers of The Associated Press details. Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com suggested that Blatt’s job security depends on the team’s performance in the second half of this season, and other columnists have opined that the Cavs face a crossroads. Blatt said he doesn’t appreciate “far-reaching conclusions,” Withers notes.
“It’s about my team,” he said. “It’s about my guys and I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. My guys are out there fighting for the Cavaliers and doing the best job they can in a tough NBA — very tough — especially because this is a team that night after night has a target on its back. They go out there and they fight and they play and they deal with adversity like we’ve had to deal with all year. We are far from perfect and we are still not at our best, but it’s not for lack of effort.”
See more on the Cavs and other Central Division teams:
- SB Nation’s Tom Ziller also suggests the ramifications of the loss aren’t as severe as they’ve otherwise been portrayed, since it isn’t a given that the Warriors will get to the Finals and because the Cavs have little recourse to affect roster changes that would help them better match up with Golden State anyway.
- Pistons owner Tom Gores has committed more money and energy into the Pistons than it initially seemed reasonable to expect, and he’s made strong hires, particularly with coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, opines Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News. “There’s still gonna be a lot of ups and downs, but I don’t think there’s any doubt we’re on the right path and making progress,” Van Gundy said. “There’s also no doubt there’s still a long, long way to go.”
- The Bulls might not be a title favorite, but they’re still close enough to that level that they need not tear down the roster, contends Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding.
And-Ones: Williams, Love, McLemore
Shooting guard Elliot Williams, whom the Grizzlies didn’t sign to a second 10-day contract after his first expired on Sunday, has declined multiple offers from overseas teams as he awaits another NBA team to come calling, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link). Williams averaged 1.6 points on 20% shooting in nine minutes per contest across five appearances for Memphis. The Grizzlies instead signed center Ryan Hollins to a 10-day contract today, filling the roster spot Williams had been in.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Bulls are a team in disarray, which is a byproduct of parting ways with former coach Tom Thibodeau, Colin McGowan of RealGM writes. Chicago wanted a coach who was more respectful of the chain of command, and it got that in new coach Fred Hoiberg, but the team has looked sluggish on offense and disinterested in defense far too often this season as a result of the switch, McGowan contends.
- Kings shooting guard Ben McLemore‘s playing time has suffered due to the offseason additions of Rajon Rondo and Marco Belinelli, and the third-year player is still trying to adjust to his new role, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “I think I’m still trying to find my flow on this team,” McLemore told Jones. “I know what I need to do. I’m just trying to figure it out. Last year I figured it out pretty fast. Now I need to get over this hump and push from there.”
- If the Cavaliers are to maximize their potential this season, power forward Kevin Love will need to fully embrace his role as the team’s third star, Kevin Cottrell Jr. of NBA.com writes. Love has struggled with his touches and role being reduced since arriving in Cleveland, something that Chris Bosh, a former teammate of LeBron James, cautioned could become an issue when the trade for Love was first announced, Cottrell notes.
- LSU’s Ben Simmons tops the latest mock draft from ESPN’s Chad Ford (Insider subscription required). The combo forward is followed on Ford’s list by Duke’s Brandon Ingram and Croatian big man Dragan Bender, who round out the top three.
Cavs Notes: Love, LeBron, Blatt
The Cavs held a meeting before practice Tuesday to clear the air following Monday’s blowout loss to the Warriors, and Kevin Love had a major bounce-back performance Wednesday, posting 17 points and a whopping 18 rebounds in 31 minutes as the Cavaliers rolled to victory over the Nets, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com details. It came on the heels of a miserable performance Monday in which he had only three points and six rebounds, and Love said Wednesday that he didn’t intend for a comment he made following the Warriors game in which he appeared to call out LeBron James to be perceived as a shot at the four-time MVP, McMenamin notes.
“All I meant was that LeBron is our leader and we follow him at the end of the day,” Love said. “We all got to be better for each other, him, our fans, our organization, each and every player on this team, our coaches.”
James said he believes Love’s contention that he didn’t mean to be critical, according to McMenamin, but the fallout from Monday’s wake-up call of a loss remains. See more:
- Love was at a loss for words after Monday’s game when asked about what his role on the team is, and he’s not an easy fit on the Cavs roster, argues Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Cleveland already has fellow power forward Tristan Thompson, who, like Love, is just starting a five-year deal, and James, who also excels at power forward, as Bontemps points out.
- David Blatt‘s continued employment as coach of the Cavs depends largely on how well Love performs down the stretch this season, opines Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
- James isn’t as singularly dominant as he once was and his teammates aren’t giving him the on-court support he needs, contends Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report, who believes James simply isn’t as relevant on the NBA landscape as he has been in the past. Still, a disappearance from center stage would suit James just fine, he said Wednesday, as McMenamin relays in his story. “I actually wish they continue to forget about us. Completely forget about us,” James said. “For the first time in my career I could fly under the radar. For us, we as a basketball team, we just got to go out and prove it to ourselves. It’s not about what everybody else thinks. We need to be with each other and get better every night. I think tonight it was very easy to look each other in the face and know that we got better out there.”