It didn’t take long for the LeBron James rumor mill to start churning.
In his only post-playoffs comments about his future, James said he has made no decisions and won’t start to evaluate until after a family vacation. But some messages already have been sent to the Heat and Cavaliers, considered the two most likely options for James, through “sources.”
According to an ESPN.com report, James is leery of returning to the Heat long-term given some of the money-saving moves made by owner Micky Arison. Those moves include amnestying sharpshooter Mike Miller, who played in every game this season for the Grizzlies, using their draft pick as a sweetener in trading away Joel Anthony and not using their mid-level exception to add bench help.
The Heat’s lack of depth was one of the factors that led to them getting decimated by the Spurs in five games in the Finals.
And now on to LeBron’s former team …
The Cavaliers hired David Blatt as their head coach on Friday afternoon, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. Blatt had tremendous success coaching in Europe over the past 20 years after an overseas playing career.
Though Blatt’s hiring is seen as wise in a lot of circles, James’ camp may not be a fan.
The Cavaliers fired Mike Brown and hired Byron Scott to appease James when he was a free agent in 2010, but he fled to Miami anyway. They brought Brown back this past season, then fired him again after remembering he’s not a particularly good coach. This time the Cavaliers didn’t wait for James to weigh in before making a decision.