Cavaliers fire head coach David Blatt, promote Tyronn Lue
Change is afoot in The Land.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have dismissed head coach David Blatt, the team confirmed Friday afternoon.
The story was first reported by Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
Blatt was hired on June 20, 2014, and LeBron James joined the team two weeks thereafter. The coach signed a four-year, $20-million deal, and hardly lasted a third of the contract.
"When you have the clarity of purpose that we have as a franchise, these decisions make themselves," Cavs GM David Griffin told reporters at a news conference.
David Griffin: "I'm not leaving an unprecedented team payroll to chance"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 22, 2016
His replacement will be former assistant Tyronn Lue, who signed a multi-year deal to be Cleveland's head coach, according to Wojnarowski's sources.
Blatt led the Cavaliers to a 53-win season and a Finals appearance in his first year as head coach. They're on pace to win 60 games this year, but an 0-3 record against the Warriors and Spurs have the team a tier below the league's elite.
The players might not have seen eye to eye with Blatt. As USA Today's Sam Amick reports, there was a disconnect with him that wasn't quite there with Lue.
In retrospect, Lue was always something of a large looming figure behind Blatt. He left a strong impression on the Cavaliers when he interviewed for the vacancy last summer, and, after the team hired Blatt, was still brought on as the league's most expensive assistant.
Reports also indicated that Lue would occasionally call timeouts behind Blatt's back.