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The Whiteboard: Firing Ty Lue now doesn’t make sense

By Ti Windisch

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 17: Head Coach Tyronn Lue of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on in the second half of the NBA season opener against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on October 17, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 17: Head Coach Tyronn Lue of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on in the second half of the NBA season opener against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on October 17, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /
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Is firing head coach Ty Lue really going to accomplish anything for the Cleveland Cavaliers?

After a 0-6 start to their 2018-19 regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired head coach Ty Lue. Lue, of course, coached the Cavaliers to their only NBA championship in 2016 and never failed to get the Cavs to the NBA Finals, although LeBron James might have had something to do with that as well.

Moving on from Lue now that LeBron’s departure has drastically changed the short-term outlook for the Cavaliers might not be a bad move. The case could be made that Cleveland is ripe for an overhaul from top to bottom.

If that were the case, the organization should’ve parted ways with Lue back during the offseason, when they could’ve searched for a replacement from a wide array of options. Hiring a good coach, or keeping Lue if he is, in fact, a good coach, would’ve been a good plan. Hiring a bad coach, or sticking with Lue if it turns out he’s not so good, would’ve been a bad plan.

What the Cavaliers have done is worse than either of those options. Good plans are better than bad plans, but franchises with no plans are the ones who end up in the cellar of the standings for years and years. Any time a coach is fired six games into the regular season, it’s clear whatever plan was in place has been thrown out of the window.

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Cleveland is in such a dire spot that Larry Drew, who led the Milwaukee Bucks to a 67-loss season in his last full season as a head coach, is asking for a multi-year commitment instead of simply becoming the interim head coach for the rest of the season. Despite the Cavaliers apparently wanting to be competitive this season without LeBron and with a banged up Kevin Love, maybe they’ll luck out and Drew will again inexplicably lead a great tank and get Cleveland another number one pick.

Even if that does happen, until the Cavaliers find some sort of strategy for the next several years they will not come close to the heights that they reached under Ty Lue.

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