David Blatt was fired today as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers even after he led his team to an NBA Finals berth, and a 30-11 record to begin this season, which tops the Eastern Conference. Even with little noise about a potential firing of Randy Wittman, the Washington Wizards should at least look into making a coaching change with such a qualified person on the market.
The Cavaliers have the highest win pct of any NBA team to replace their coach 10+ games into a season (@EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/QkJniJI3DH
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 22, 2016
Coming into the season, Washington was supposed to be the team that would compete with Cleveland for the Eastern Conference title, but with a 20-21 record that is good enough for the 10th best record in the East, even playoffs are in question right now. Wittman’s style of small-ball has not worked, which he seems to have finally realized now that Marcin Gortat and Nene are starting together in the frontcourt.
Wittman may have done this right before it was too late, because had they lost to Miami and Blatt been put on the market right after, it would not be a surprise to see Blatt already with Washington.
After all the front office did in the offseason to fit the system Wittman thought he could implement with the Wizards, none of the pieces have been put to good use. They cannot be happy with the current state of the team, and have likely already discussed making a coaching change. After this firing, the pieces may start to fall to bring Blatt to DC.
In less than two seasons with the Cavs, Blatt compiled an 83-40 record, a .675 winning percentage. Compared to Wittman’s .394 career winning percentage, the Wizards would easily be acquiring a more successful coach.
Charles Barkley on David Blatt firing: ‘The Cavaliers set him up for failure’ WATCH: https://t.co/2jcWN0aOPe pic.twitter.com/qpTlPlVLq8
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) January 23, 2016
After a 106-87 blowout win over Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat, now may not be the right time to fire their coach, but if Washington pulls together another 3-game losing streak, they need to make a change at the helm. With the stardom on the roster, the current record is unacceptable and the Wizards cannot lose their chance at a title this season.
