The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a major disappointment this season and if the Cavs opt to fire David Blatt as head coach, Mark Jackson could be a potential replacement, as Blatt doesn't appear to have the respect of LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and Mike Miller and that could lead to some major shakeups, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Cavaliers are currently under .500 after losing to the Phoenix Suns and they have not looked like a championship contender at all this season. While James has said that it will take time for the Cavaliers to click as a team, Blatt has not done much to give the front office confidence that things will get better. This is the first head coaching job for Blatt in the NBA and there have been reports that the team does not respect him as a coach.
James came out to defend his head coach, but that really doesn't mean anything, because what else would he say? Dan Gilbert may look at making a change and according to Wojnarowski, Jackson could be the name that comes in. Wojnarowski writes that Jackson being a client of Rich Paul helps with his chances at being the Cavs coach and that James likely would be open to the change. Jackson has been praising James and the Cavs in TV broadcasts and Wojnarowski thinks that could be part of the plan as well.
Many have pointed to the James push as an issue between the two, but that was more in the heat of the moment and had James trying to protect his coach from a technical. Putting that aside, there are other issues, as Brian Windhorst reports that Cavs players have spoken with other players in the NBA about "coaching issues" and that the team respects assistant coach Tyronne Lue more than Blatt. The team came into the matchup with Phoenix having lost 15 of the past 19 games and they need to start playing better to be a force in the east.
Things in Miami also got off to a slow start for James and that sparked firing talk about Erik Spoelstra, but the team was comprised of veterans with winning experience like Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving are strong players, but neither has been to the playoffs and James also dealt with an injury and missed two weeks of action. Windhorst writes that there are more issues, including James calling his own plays on the court and making major decisions, like acting as the point guard on the court during certain sets.
Wojnarowski writes that Jackson is not the only candidate, as Mike D'Antoni, Tom Izzo and Jeff Van Gundy also could be potential targets along with George Karl. While the Cavs likely want to keep Blatt after just hiring him, when they brought him in they had no real idea that James was coming. Now that James has signed and wants to bring a championship to Cleveland, the team may have to make a major coaching move. The Cavs defense has not been good and the team ranked 24th in rebounds per game while allowing over 100 points per contest.