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Lue's firing reveals continued Cavs dysfunction

Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Tyronn Lue lasted just six games into the post-LeBron era in Cleveland, with the Cavaliers announcing they have released Lue and replaced him with Larry Drew on an interim basis after an 0-6 start. The news comes just four months after Lue guided the Cavs to a fourth straight Finals appearance, and two years after Lue coached Cleveland to its only NBA championship.

Winning and developing don't mix

The Spurs have proven an exception to this rule for the better part of two decades, and in recent seasons, the Celtics and Raptors have managed to rack up wins while developing an intriguing mix of young talent, but that was never going to be the case for this Cavs roster. Anyone who had convinced themselves otherwise was fooling themselves.

LeBron James' departure gave Cleveland a clear path to a wholehearted rebuilding plan. Instead, the Cavs tried to straddle the line between long-term development and short-term success, extending Kevin Love through the 2022-23 season with plans to avoid a full-fledged tank to the bottom. Heck, Tristan Thompson even spoke of the path to an Eastern Conference crown still running through Quicken Loans Arena.

Thompson's comedy aside, the Cavaliers could find a trade partner for Love and start cobbling together assets for the future - though we're talking about a banged-up big man who will make $28.9 million four years from now - but the intention to compete with the roster they entered the season with was always an irresponsible one. Had they accomplished their short-term goals, the best-case scenario would have been a mediocre finish in a depressing Eastern Conference playoff race, in a season where Cleveland only keeps its first-round pick if it lands in the top 10.

Mediocrity would have only delayed what is sure to be a long and painful rebuild, yet it appeared that's exactly what the Cavs were aiming for. A winless start is just the wake-up call the organization needed.

Cleveland's flawed youth movement

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In the aftermath of Lue's firing, nothing has summed up Cleveland's inconsistent vision quite like this anecdote about Lue and general manager Kolby Altman from The Athletic's Joe Vardon:

Altman and Lue have been at loggerheads over playing time and the general direction of the team since the start of training camp. While both men wanted to win this season rather than tank for a draft pick, Altman wanted Lue to give more playing time to the younger players acquired over the past several months.

A directive to develop young talent by any means necessary in an otherwise lost season is one thing, but expecting a coach to win now while favoring younger players is a nearly impossible ask, especially given the youth at Lue's disposal.

Collin Sexton could be an exciting two-way prospect at the point, and Cedi Osman's hustle has made him a fan favorite in Cleveland, but the pair is already logging a combined 56 minutes per game. The only noteworthy youngster who wasn't getting meaningful playing time in Lue's rotation is center Ante Zizic, which might have something to do with the fact that the two players ahead of him on the depth chart - Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. - are set to earn a combined $31 million next season.

David Nwaba is a perfect example of the type of player who is worth a look for a team unconcerned by the present, but if you expect a coach to compete on a nightly basis, don't expect him to play a 25-year-old journeyman on a cheap, one-year contract, who has 90 games of NBA experience under his belt.

Larry Drew might be only beneficiary of terrible timing

The Cavs went 8-1 under Drew while Lue was absent due to health issues last season, but it's unlikely he's the long-term fit in Cleveland.

The 60-year-old owns a .458 winning percentage over four seasons as a head coach between Atlanta and Milwaukee, and his (interim) promotion reeks of the type of mediocrity the Cavs seem content to doom themselves to. Finding a new head coach in late October is tough, and as the top assistant remaining from Lue's staff - Damon Jones was also fired Sunday - Drew became the go-to on an interim basis. But that's why teams don't usually fire coaches in October.

Did the front office and Lue really learn anything new about each other over the last two weeks that they hadn't come to evaluate over the last three years? If either party, or both, had inclinations this partnership was no longer tenable given the team's new direction, couldn't they have come to that understanding some time over the summer?

Then again, it's probably tough to come to an understanding like that when no one seems to know what the direction is.

Given Cleveland's history with head coaches and what the rest of the year likely entails for his team, Drew is right to seek some sort of longer term financial commitment before putting pen to paper.

Lue has earned something Cavs haven't

David Liam Kyle / National Basketball Association / Getty

Lue may not have been the right person to lead the Cavs into the future, and given the level of competition he had become accustomed to as a head coach, maybe deep down, he didn't even want to be. Perhaps we'll never know.

Here's what we do know. Lue found a way to a championship and three Finals appearances while managing a combustible locker room of personalities and the weight of expectations that come with coaching a LeBron-led team. Say what you will about the role he played in those achievements, but he gained James' respect during their time together.

If nothing else, Lue has at least earned the benefit of the doubt going forward and should get an opportunity to prove his worth with a fresh start somewhere down the line. In the meantime, Dan Gilbert's Cavaliers still owe him $15 million.

Gilbert and the Cavs have earned no such benefit.

The franchise has had two things going for it during Gilbert's 13-year tenure as majority owner; it plays in James' hometown (or close enough to it), and it was blessed with an unbelievable string of lottery luck. Eliminate those two factors, and it's tough to find many good basketball decisions (or non-basketball ones) made over the last decade-and-a-half. The ill-timed firing of Lue doesn't exactly inspire confidence that the next 13 years will be managed any better.

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