Could Ty Lue’s firing be a blessing in disguise for the former Cleveland Cavaliers coach?
The Cavs fired Lue on Sunday after an 0-6 start to the season. Lue helped lead Cleveland to an NBA championship just two seasons ago season before losing to the Golden State Warriors in last season’s NBA Finals. Cleveland suffered another loss over the summer, as LeBron James made his way out west to sign a four-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Even with players like Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith still in the fold, Lue struggled to lead Cleveland to a win this season. But one person thinks being fired could lead to something better for Lue, and that the Cavs actually did him a favor by letting him go.
On Monday’s episode of ESPN’s “Jalen and Jacoby” Jalen Rose made it known that he believes this could lead to Lue’s own greener pastures.
“Everybody keeps forgetting the fact that you now lose LeBron James, and they got zero compensation in return. So you give Kevin Love a max deal, but you’re still stuck with a lot of contracts,” Rose said, as transcribed by ForTheWin. “J.R. Smith comes to mind, Tristan Thompson comes to mind. And you now need those guys to be NBA veterans and contributors, not necessarily role players. And when that does not happen, somebody has to be the fall guy for a team that’s 0-6.
“In theory, and I don’t speak for Ty Lue, I think he did a really good job with that team,” he added. “I think he deserves another opportunity. So from that sense, I actually feel like they did him a favor. Because now he has time to re-assess the league and put himself in position to get another gig that I think he’s going to deserve, and do a really good job.”
The NBA season is young, so maybe Lue will get a second chance at calling the shots for a team this year.