Congrats LeBron on Building a Perennial Runner Up

Prediction on where Cleveland will finish the season

With the news last week that the Cleveland Cavaliers fired David Blatt, I'm going to hate on the Cavs once again.

This news is not surprising, but it should be. The fact that it isn't surprising is part of the huge, huge problem that this firing shows. First of all, what else did the Cavs want from David Blatt? He won 50 plus games in his first season and the team made the finals. Sure, they lost, but they played what is looking like one of the all time great teams, the Golden State Warriors. I don't think any team was beating the Warriors last year, and no one probably will this year either. This season, they had a record of 30-11 when they fired Blatt. That was good enough for first place in the East, by two games, and fourth best overall in the league, behind only Golden State, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. Many journalists and pundits will say the firing was deserved because of how handily they got beaten by both San Antonio and Golden State, but if that's the sole reason he got fired, every single other coach that doesn't coach for the Spurs or Warriors should be fired. They beat everyone all the time. They are far and away the two best teams in the NBA. Others will say that Blatt couldn't handle the egos and the big stage. Well, he guided the team to a finals appearance last year and they were firmly in first place in the East this year. He also won multiple titles as a coach overseas and he had the best wining percentage for a head coach in the NBA since Red Auerbach. He also led the Cavs to the finals after losing Kevin Love in the first round and Kyrie Irving in the first game of the finals. That sounds, at least to me, like he was doing a pretty bang up job as an NBA coach.

What this firing really boils down to is LeBron James didn't want David Blatt to be his coach, he wanted Tyronn Lue. This was evident from the first month of last season. LeBron didn't work well with Blatt and he would go to Lue, who was an assistant, whenever there was a timeout or when he was getting rest during games. It was clear after one month of games last season that James clearly favored Lue to Blatt. So, 41 games into this season, David Griffen gave in to his superstar player and got rid of the coach that he didn't like. I don't buy any of the talk coming from the ESPN moron analysts like Stephen A Smith or Brian Windhorst that LeBron had no say or no idea that they were firing Blatt. He one hundred percent knew it was coming because he told the front office to do it.

The Cavs management haven't said no to LeBron since he returned to Cleveland last season. He wanted Kevin Love, so they traded Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for him as soon as they could. How much better would the Cavs be if they kept Wiggins and signed James? LeBron and Love cannot coexist together. Love is a much better player when he can post and then float out to the three point line. That doesn't work for LeBron, he needs the lane open to go to the hoop. That's why he and Bosh meshed so well in Miami. Chris Bosh is a much better big man shooter than Love will ever be and he has a much better on court demeanor than Love has. Bosh just wants to win, Kevin Love just wants stats. I bet within two weeks, LeBron will tell the front office to trade Love because they just don't play well together and I think they legitimately dislike each other. And the front office will give their spoiled star exactly what he wants. LeBron also demanded they get another big that is defensive minded and two perimeter players so they went out and got Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and JR Smith. Now, Mozgov is barely playing because he too clogs the lane, Shumpert can't stay healthy and JR Smith is wearing t shirt that say "shoot till my arm falls off". How'd that three man trade work for you in the finals LeBron? Oh yeah, you got smoked when the Warriors went small and ran all over you.

Then, this past offseason LeBron left the Cavs with little to no cap space after maxing out Love, one of the worst offseason deals, and had to resign marginal NBA players like Richard Jefferson and Matthew Dellavedova. Those are not players that will help bring a title to Cleveland. They also maxed out Tristan Thompson, who has the same agent as LeBron, and he has not lived up to the hype at all, not even close. And now, they fired Blatt to hire LeBron's buddy, Tyronn Lue. He has zero head coaching experience at any level, but the Cavs front office, AKA LeBron James, decided he was a better fit than a coach that led them to the finals and first place in the East after half this season.

In Lue's first game as head coach, playing the Bulls in Chicago, another first year coach, Fred Hoiberg, absolutely schooled him with his decision making and player personnel decisions. The Bulls dictated the flow and the pace of that game and won easily. Lue got his first win last night, but the Cavs had to go down to the wire with the Timberwolves and they are not good, not yet.

I guess what I'm trying to say, it's all on LeBron James now. He can't blame the coach. When they trade Love, he can't blame the chemistry and inexperience. And when they make the finals and lose again, it will be solely on him. The Cavs have given him everything he has asked for and it all rests on him now. He has no more excuses. The media may give you a pass, but the real basketball fan knows, it all rests on you now. This is the team LeBron wants and he has no more excuses. When the Cavs make the finals and when they lose, he has to take all the blame because he is the coach, the GM and the star player of this team. No more passing the blame LeBron. Once the Cavs trade Love, this is the team you constructed.

The Cavs that will be good enough to be the runner up once again in the NBA.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once tried to assemble his own rec league basketball team. It did not go well. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.