David Blatt was doomed from the beginning

Photo by Mark Lawrie / Getty Images 
David Blatt is the first head coach who was fired while his team was No.1 in their conference since the league implemented conferences in 1970-71.

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    The Cleveland Cavaliers parted ways with head coach David Blatt today, and immediately addressed their coaching situation as Cleveland and assistant Tyronn Lue agreed to a three-year contract. In doing this, the Cavaliers have essentially spear-headed any potential lame-duck questions every interim coach would face in nearly every other situation when a head coach is fired. The question remains, why didn't Cleveland offer the job to Lue in the first place?

    Blatt was hired before the 2014-15 season, and before the Cavaliers agreed to a contract to bring LeBron James back to the organization that drafted him in 2003. Speculation at the time was that Blatt was on a short leash because James and Lue have had a good relationship for several years. With that, was Blatt just a scapegoat so that Lue could usurp him when the organization felt comfortable making Lue the head coach?

    When the announcement to hire Blatt was made, some questions were raised about the former Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach's ability to succeed in transition from Euroleague to the NBA. His success could not be questioned overseas, but it was in the United States. Others thought Blatt was just a figurehead as James was considered to be not just the leader of the locker room, but on the court as well. The same things were being said about current head coach Eric Spoelstra when James was in Miami.

Cavaliers Superstar LeBron James may or may not have influenced Blatt's firing, but he certainly got the front office's attention with visible displeasure on the bench and in the locker room.

    Regardless of all the speculation then and now, Cleveland appears to have the coach they really wanted to give the job to, but were unsure about the timing over a year ago when the Cavaliers dismissed Mike Brown from head coaching duties. It has been well-documented that James possesses leverage when it comes to the decisions that the front office makes. James was vocal about the contract situation with Tristan Thompson, and it ended up with Thompson getting a five-year $82 million contract. By the way, Thompson and James share the same agent (Rich Paul).

    Blatt did all the right things by saying how grateful he was about getting the opportunity to coach Cleveland and thanked Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert as well as general manager David Griffin. After compiling an 83-40 record in his first NBA coaching gig, he has the appearance of a professional who can win, but his next job will likely not feature a superstar on the roster. It did not look like a good fit from the beginning, and it is possible that the Cavaliers won in spite of Blatt but maybe in a different situation success is attainable. 

    Step No. 1: get out of Cleveland as soon as possible.

        

*According to Elias Sports Bureau, Blatt is the third head coach to be fired one year after his team made an NBA Finals appearance (Byron Scott 2004 and Gene Shue 1977).

Some information and statistics came from espn.com, The Associated Press and Elias Sports Bureau