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This is a guest post from Justin of FantasyBasketballMoneyLeagues.com. For more NBA news and updates, visit Fantasy Basketball Money Leagues today or follow him up at this Google+ page.
Many people dream to become an NBA coach, yet very few are given the opportunity. David Blatt was forced to travel overseas to coach due to a lack of a job. Now, he has been given a chance to fulfill that dream and becoming a coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavs hired David Blatt on Friday, shocking everyone with their selection. They had been searching for a coach for 39 days and ended up choosing one of Europe’s top coaches. The San Antonio Spurs did fairly well searching for players in Europe, so maybe it will be the same deal for Cleveland with a coach.
Blatt was born in America and was educated at Princeton. He has been known as one of the brightest offensive minds and has been looking to become an NBA coach his whole life. Cleveland is finally giving Blatt his time to shine. The deal is worth $10 million and will span three years with the fourth year under a team option with incentives.
In Cleveland’s search for a new coach, they came in contact with some of the best college coaches, retreaded head coaches and assistants that have shown the ability to take the next step. It all led to them finding Blatt and signing him to a contract. Blatt won a few European titles with Israel and also brought Russia home a bronze medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
Cavs owner, Dan Gilbert, certainly has a lot of trust in Blatt. He spoke highly of the newly named coach, saying “David Blatt is going to bring some of the most innovative approaches found in professional basketball anywhere on the globe.” Gilbert continued by saying, “Time and time again, from Russia to Israel and several other prominent head coaching jobs in between, David has done one thing: ‘win.’ He is not only an innovator, well-trained and focused on both sides of the court, but he is always learning and always teaching.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers will have a big week ahead of them. They have decided to announce the new head coach on Wednesday, just one day before the NBA Draft. With the number one pick in the draft, it should be an exciting week for Cavs fans around the world.
Coaches haven’t been doing too well with Cleveland. Blatt will be their third coach in only three years. Blatt is replacing Mike Brown, who was fired for the second time on May 12. They finished last season 33-49 and ended up missing the playoffs for the fourth season in a row. Their decision to change coaches showed that the Cavs were ready to move on. Although Blatt wasn’t on the Cavs radar throughout the beginning of their search, he sparked interest when he resigned at Maccabi Tel Aviv.
David Blatt briefly touched on becoming the Cavs head coach. “I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to come to Cleveland and lead the Cavaliers as their head coach. We are going to work extremely hard to achieve the kind of results we all expect and know are possible,” David Blatt said.
Blatt was also looked at by the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves for an assistant job, but the Cavs jumped to him first. The move made him the first European coach to make the transition straight to a head coach in the NBA.
Also touching on the move was the general manager of the Cavs, David Griffin. “David is a great basketball coach and a special person. His abilities to communicate, to build relationships with his players and to foster winning environments at several stops throughout Europe and across the highest levels of international competition speak for itself. He brings unbridled passion, energy and creativity to his craft,” said Griffin.
Griffin also added that Blatt is great at adapting to different systems in order to maximize the talents of the team every year. Griffin is “very confident he will make a smooth transition to the NBA.”
There is no doubt that the management in Cleveland is happy to have Blatt aboard. That’s good news for a new coach, having the management’s trust will bring your confidence up. And when your coach is confident, so are the players. That all leads to a team ready to make some noise in the NBA and finally start to show improvements from a rebuilding process.
However, much of the success of the team will be the play of the players. Now that they have a new coach, the Cavs will need to put pieces around him that will work well with Blatt. Next week is the 2014 NBA Draft and the Cavs have a huge decision to make with the first overall pick once again. There has been a lot of speculation about who they will grab. As Blatt’s contract was being negotiated, David Griffin and the rest of the front office were checking out Jabari Parker, a freshman out of Duke. Parker worked out with the team and has become a very likely option for the Cavs. He is one of the most NBA-ready players in the draft, which is good news for a team that has struggled with their picks in the years prior.
After the draft, the Cavs will have a chance to improve through the free agency market. There is expected to be a lot of moving this summer and a lot of big names switching teams. The Cavs could look a lot different by the time Blatt holds his first practices.
So, what kind of things should we expect to see with Blatt? Is he really a good choice for the Cavs? Well, Blatt played basketball at Princeton as a point guard. At the time, he was coached under the legendary Pete Carril. His famous pass-and-cut offense is seen all the time, but you can expect Blatt to also throw in some of Princeton’s system into the offense as well.
Blatt’s style will be a lot different than what the Cavs had with Mike Brown. Their main focus needs to be on offense. Their defense improved last season, but they had a tough time getting their offense in rhythm most of the year.
However, there is no doubt that the Cavs firmly believe Blatt is the right choice. Everyone is in high spirits and everyone is excited. And well, I guess that’s all you can expect from a coach that hasn’t coached in the NBA yet: excitement.
