Cleveland Cavaliers: Tyronn Lue understood post-LeBron James era

Sure, maybe Tyronn Lue wasn’t the greatest in all areas of coaching, especially at the NBA-level. But his experience on the court, along with previous coaching stops, made him valuable.

After starting a troublesome 0-6 to begin the 2018-19 season, the Cleveland Cavaliers parted ways with Tyronn Lue on Sunday morning. Lue was in his fourth season as head coach of the Wine and Gold following his promotion during the middle of the 2015-16 season.

Though it’s obvious that the team wasn’t winning with Lue on the sidelines, it still begs for the question to be asked: Why fire him now?

Lue’s record as head coach of the Cavs was 128-83, or a winning percentage of .607. That record also features a 2016 NBA Championship and a whole lot of experience as a mediator. For a couple of campaigns, it was Lue that helped keep LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love all on the same page to accomplish the ultimate goal. It wasn’t always pretty, but the job was executed long enough to achieve a great deal of success.

On top of that, Lue developed a relationship with his squad. If nothing else could be said about him at times, his players would always be able to speak on how much he could relate to them on a personal level, which is huge in the modern NBA.

And that’s why Ty was so important to this year’s operation. In a year where a recovery process needed to begin and feelings needed to be mended, the Cleveland front office took one of the lifelines away from the organization.

Lue’s had some experience in a situation involving a departing star during his coaching days. While serving as an assistant coach on Doc Rivers‘ coaching staff in Boston, he was a part of the final season in which the “Big Three” of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett were together. Following that year, Allen left the Celtics for Miami to join then-rival LeBron James and the Heat.

There was a lot of conflict that followed. The Celtics went 41-40 that next season and were bounced in the opening round of the playoffs by the New York Knicks. Rivers and Lue left for the West via the Los Angeles Clippers and Garnett and Pierce were packaged to the Brooklyn Nets in a whopping trade that still makes no sense.

Wouldn’t someone that dealt with the departure of a star in the past help a team that currently needs some advice in that department?

Lue was a voice for the organization and veterans trusted him. He gave guys like J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson confidence when they were at low points during the championship-chasing years. He was a scapegoat for ongoing conflicts and took it on the chin at every meeting with the media.

Those things matter.

Also, wasn’t a big part of this season’s plan to develop Collin Sexton? It sure seems like a former NBA point guard could’ve helped there, as well. Now the rookie must take whatever he learned from Lue and try to incorporate whatever he can into the next coach’s scheme.

Larry Drew was a point guard in the NBA himself, so we’ll see how that translates, but for now or another maestro down the line, it isn’t good for Sexton’s growth in the league that his first head coach lasted just six games.

At the end of the day, the Cavs seem to not have any orchestrated plan. That’s what they have portrayed over the past 24 hours, botching the second attempt at initial success in the post-LeBron era.

And now the organization has to answer to a disgruntled roster and fan base.