Phoenix Suns: 5 Long-Term Replacements For Jeff Hornacek
4. David Blatt
This would be quite a quick turnaround for David Blatt. Just over a week ago, Blatt was fired by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who sat atop the Eastern Conference standings with a 30-11 record at the time. He became the winningest NBA coach of all time to be fired, though having LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love obviously had something to do with that impressive record.
However, Blatt was in a similar situation to Hornacek, being thrust into increased expectations ahead of schedule. Remember, when the Cavs first hired Blatt, he was meant to take on a young Kyrie Irving and a bunch of younger players and mold them; LeBron James didn’t commit to coming home to Cleveland until weeks after he was hired, and at that point, the team’s expectations radically changed.
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
Blatt was in charge of a team that went to the NBA Finals last year, so he’s familiar with success at the highest level and winning habits. Perhaps in Phoenix he’d actually get a chance to mold a young roster without the LeBron-added pressure of competing for championships right away.
However, we should note that Blatt is taking his time away from the game to think about his future in the NBA and what he wants to do next.
Next: No. 3