Report: David Blatt agrees to contract with Cleveland Cavaliers
By Brad Rowland
On Thursday, word broke that the Cleveland Cavaliers had centered in on former Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach David Blatt to replace the fired Mike Brown, and before the end of the day, there were reports that Cleveland had offered Blatt a contract. By mid-day on Friday, that contract offer has reportedly turned into a full-fledged agreement for Blatt to become the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
#Cavs have reached agreement with David Blatt to be their next coach source tells The Plain Dealer
— clevelanddotcom Cavs (@PDcavsinsider) June 20, 2014
The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that the agreement has been reached, and this is an incredibly interesting turn of events for the Cavs organization. First, Cleveland currently holds the rights to the number one overall pick, but more interestingly, the Cavs have reportedly been in high pursuit of their departed “favorite son” in LeBron James. Any coaching hire could have an impact on the pursuit of James or any other free agent target, and by hiring a coach with no NBA experience, Cleveland is taking a risk.
Still, David Blatt is highly respected as a basketball tactician at the highest level, and the Cavaliers are making an exciting, out-of-the-box choice. It was widely reported that Cleveland was considering current Los Angeles Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue alongside Blatt, but in the end, they seemingly elected to make the “splash” hire. It remains to be seen whether David Blatt will succeed in the NBA, but the Cavs are making a calculated choice to move in an interesting direction.