J-Speaks: Four-Time Defending East Champs Axe Head Coach

With four-time Kia MVP LeBron James departing in free agency for the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer time, the Cleveland Cavaliers new this was going to be a season of change. They hope that they would not experience the struggles record wise they went through as a team the first time James left in free agency when they went from a serious contender in the East to a Lottery team. They have to this point in the season and that resulted in the ouster of their lead man on the sidelines earlier this week. 

On Sunday the four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers (1-7) fired head coach Tyronn Lue as the Cavs got out of the gate in 2018-19 0-6 and are now. 

They named assistant coach Larry Drew, who filled in for Lue for 10 games last season when he was dealing with chest pains, insomnia, and anxiety the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. 

Drew joined the Cavs’ coaching staff in 2014 as an assistant after serving as head coach for the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2013-14 season and the Atlanta Hawks from 2010-13. 

The 41-year-old former Los Angeles Laker, Washington Wizard and Orlando Magic guard who went 128-83 in the regular season as Cavs’ head coach guided them to their first ever NBA championship and the first professional sports title for the city of Northeast Ohio since the NFL’s Cleveland Browns won it all in 1964, led by Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown. 

“This was a difficult decision. It is especially so, considering Coach Lue’s time with us over the last four years, including four straight trips to the NBA Finals,” Cavs’ general manager Koby Altman said in a statement on Sunday on ousting coach Lue, who had three years left on a five-year $35 million deal he signed after the Cavs won it all. 

“We have great respect and great admiration for Ty, not only as a coach but a person. We thank him for the many ways he has contributed to our success, we wish him the best and he will always be remembered for leading a very special Cavs team back against the odds to win the title in 2016.”

“This is a different team equation, though, and one that we felt needed a different voice and approach that required this change.” 

The Cavs also gave assistant coach Damon Jones, a former Cavaliers’ player who had been promoted during the off-season the axe. 

Coach Lue also gave a statement where he thanked Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert, former GM from 2014-17 David Griffin, and current GM Altman by saying, “My time here in Cleveland was truly special.” 

“I am very grateful for the dedication, sacrifice and support of all the players on our team, the tremendous coaches I’ve worked with and of course, our incredible fans…Lastly, deep thanks to Dan Gilbert, David Griffin, and Koby Altman for the opportunity over the last three years and I only wish the organization success moving forward.”

The decision to oust Coach Lue this early into the 2018-19 NBA campaign came as a shock to the players, who according to a report from Joe Vardon of “The Athletic,” who were in a word “pissed” according to a source. Altman called Lue into his office on Sunday morning and gave him the news that the team was terminating him and the players were informed of the decision. 

That same report by Vardon said that Lue and Altman disagreed on the distribution of playing time where Lue wanted to give those minutes to the veterans like Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, Kyle Korver and Kevin Love, guys who were major parts of the Cavs dominance in the East the last four seasons. 

Love, who is on the shelf right now after undergoing surgery to repair a lingering injury to the big toe on his left foot that required surgery, where he will be re-evaluated in six weeks said on his Instagram about Coach Lue, “You helped me see the big picture. Life changing experiences and teaching points. Nothing but love and admiration. Know we will work towards something greater together again. THANK YOU.”

James echoed those same sentiments of Lue when he said via twitter @KingJames, “T Lue thanks for the memories and more importantly our partnership bringing a ‘championship-trophy emoji’ to that deserved city/fanbase. U know how to find me. ‘hand prayer-emoji.’”

Altman wanted Coach Lue to give that consistent playing time to the younger players like Cedi Osman, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, and their rookie guard Colin Sexton, who the team took No. 8 overall in the draft back in June. 

Lue though argued that the 19-year-old Sexton was better served to begin this season coming off the bench as he learns the ropes of “The Association.” 

After setbacks at the Toronto Raptors (7-1) 116-104 and at the Minnesota Timberwolves (4-4) 131-123, Lue and Altman informed Smith, Korver, and Channing Frye that their playing time was going to the younger players on the team or as they put it “going young.”

In their home opener versus the Atlanta Hawks (2-6), the Cavaliers were blown off Quicken Loans Arena that night on Oct. 21 133-111. After the game Lue decided to retake control of the rotation and reinstated Korver and Smith.  

The fact that Lue flat out defied the wishes of the front office giving the younger players more playing time that it was not a matter of when he was going to be axed but when. 

The steading of the ship is now in the hands of Drew, who reluctantly accepted the head coaching position after Lue’s ouster. 

“I’m not the interim coach. I am the voice right now,” Drew said to reporters earlier this week, adding about his contract being restructured, “As I’m sure you know, there is no agreement right now. Me and my agent have been in talks with [the] organization about restructuring my contract. Talks went on all day yesterday. They went on this morning and now type of settlement or agreement has been made, and I don’t know if one will be made to be perfectly honest.”

The reasoning behind Drew’s approach to the situation is that under Gilbert the shelf life of Cavs’ head coach is not long, even when those head coaches won games on a consistent basis. 

Former head coach David Blatt, who was hired before the return of LeBron James four years ago won 67.5 percent (83-40 mark) of his games in his one-and-a-half seasons with the Cavs. He was ousted on Jan. 22, 2016 cited by then GM Griffin, now NBATV analyst “a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision.” 

That was code for James not respecting him as a head coach and the perfect example of this came when in Game 4 of the 2015 Semifinals at the Chicago Bulls when he decided to overrule the final play call and take the final shot himself which he made to tie the series at 2-2 and the Cavs eventually won in six games. 

Even though Blatt did not win the 2016 title himself, the organization sent him a championship ring, which he declined at first but later accepted. 

Lue, the man that replaced Blatt won 60.7 percent of his games and as previously mentioned led the Cavs to their first title as they overcame a 3-1 deficit in The Finals to take down the mighty now back-to-back defending champion Golden State Warriors in their house in seven games two years ago. 

On top of that, the Cavs will not only still be paying Lue $15 million over the next three years but are still paying Blatt and his predecessor Mike Brown, the lead assistant of the Warriors who have beaten the Cavs’ brains out in The Finals the past two late springs.   

What makes this decision even more bizarre is that during the off-season the Cavs front office said that they were still going to contend for the playoffs even with James heading West in free agency. 

Many people in NBA circles thought differently because the first time James left where he famously said in an interview with then ESPN’s Jim Gray that he was “taking my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat,” the Cavs went 97-215 during those four seasons, the worst mark in the NBA. 

That is also why many shook their heads in Love got a four-year, $120 million contract extension in the summer. While he was a solid piece alongside James the past four seasons, many did not expect him to be the player he was during his days with the Timberwolves. While he has led the Cavs in scoring and rebounding at 19.0 and 13.5 respectably to start this season, he is only shooting 32.3 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from three-point range. He will now be out for a little over a month and his value on the trade market will shrink. 

To put into context how rare it is for an NBA head coach to be fired after making the NBA Finals, the last time it happened prior to Blatt’s ouster three years ago, former then New Jersey Nets head coach Byron Scott, now an analyst for ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” was let go early in the 2003-04 season and replaced by Lawrence Frank. Prior to that the Philadelphia 76ers cut ties with head coach Gene Shue in 1977. 

If you couple with Cleveland not being a free agent destination for free agents with how employees have been treated by the Cavs front office, things are not looking good for the Cavs and their front office moving forward. 

With James around and the team able to win at high clip no matter who was the lead man on the sidelines, it masked all the ugliness that went on behind the scenes. The best example of this was Griffin not being brought back after the 2016-17 season when the Cavs lost to the Warriors in The Finals 4-1. 

The Cavs problems go all the way back to them trading All-Star lead guard Kyrie Irving last off-season where he had two years left on his five-year, $90 million deal he signed in 2014. Everything that has followed from the trade deadline trade that brought them Rodney Hood, who they did not re-sign until late September, Jordan Clarkson, George Hill, and Larry Nance, Jr. to the coaching situation has simply blown up in their faces. 

The front office led by Gilbert and Atlman had the chance to make a choice of either stick with the roster they have or simply blow it up and rebuild with a new head coach. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers wanted it their way and it has blown up in their face and while their first victory of the season, 136-114 versus those same Hawks on Tuesday night cooled things for the moment, they got their heads handed to them again 110-91 versus the Denver Nuggets (7-1). 

If the Cavs are going to ever be relevant going forward, the next head coach they hire, whether it is eventually Drew or someone else, that person must have the backing of ownership.  

They also need for Sexton to be the face of this franchise and for that to happen he needs to play and grow through his highs and lows as a rookie. 

The Cavs leading up the February 2019 trading deadline need to get the best value for the likes of Korver, Smith, Hill, and Love if they can. 

Above all for the Cavs, Gilbert must take his ego out of the situation and let everyone within the organization do their job.  

The three coaches they axed not only are they still paying them as mentioned earlier but in the case of Lue he looks the best coming out of this situation and for every head coaching spot that opens up over the next couple of seasons he will be at the top of that list because not only does he have a ring both as a player but as a head coach. He built a trusting relationship with a four-time Kia MVP in James and a perennial All-Star in Love and that will go a long way in his next chance when that comes.

On top of that, one of Lue’s former assistant coaches Jim Boylan is suing the Cavs for age discrimination. 

The 63-year-old Boylan is alleging age discrimination when he was axed in June by Lue via voice mail, according to the which stated that Lue was told the following by GM Altman, “They’re not gonna pay that kind of money for three assistants on the bench. He wants to go younger in that position and, you know, find somebody who’s a grinder and younger in that position.” 

The Cavaliers in response to the lawsuit claiming age discrimination said, “This frivolous lawsuit is simply an opportunistically timed effort at a shameless cash grab. The team will seek immediate dismissal of this disappointing, unwarranted and baseless claim.”

At the end of the days it is players on the floor and everyone in the front office being able to perform at their best for success to happen. That happened with LeBron James in toe despite the ego mind games upstairs. Going forward that has to change and if it doesn’t the only thing that Cavs fans will have to look forward to worth any excitement is the 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend. 

Information, and quotations courtesy of 10/28/18 www.nba.com story, with assistance of “The Associated Press,” “Cavaliers Fire Coach Tyronn Lue after 0-6 Start 10/29/181 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Matt Winer, Candace Parker, and Greg Anthony, with Chris Miles and Dan Gilbert 10/29/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Brian Windhorst, and Kevin Arnovitz; 10/29/18 6 p.m. edition of NBATV’s “The Starters,” with Tas Melas, J.E. Skeets, Leigh Ellis, and Trey Kerby; 10/29/18 6:30 p.m. edition of NBATV’s “10 Before Tip,” presented by Ford with Jared Greenberg; 11/1/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump,” fueled by Marathon with Rachel Nichols, Amin Elhassan, Adrian Wojnarowski, and Scottie Pippen; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/cle; www.espn.com/nba/standings; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Blatt.