Cavs Offer Head Coaching Job To Blatt

10:56pm: The Cavs want to add Tyronn Lue as an assistant to Blatt’s coaching staff, but there’s a slim chance of Lue leaving Doc Rivers’ staff in Los Angeles at this point, tweets Wojnarowski.

10:19pm: According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard and the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn, the Cavaliers will virtually eliminate any chance of bringing LeBron James back to Cleveland if they finalize a deal with Blatt (Twitter links).

10:11pm: A source tells Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio that an announcement of a deal could come as early as tomorrow morning.

8:39pm: The two sides have “a long way to go” in these contract talks, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).

8:06pm: An NBA source tells Jodie Valade of The Plain Dealer that the Cavs and Blatt are currently in negotiations.

6:52pm: A Cavs source insists that the team has not yet offered the job to Blatt, tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.

6:38pm: Per league sources, the Cavaliers have offered Blatt their head coaching job, reports Wojnarowski. The two sides are reportedly in the process of negotiating terms of a deal, but no agreement has been reached.

6:10pm: Eurobasket.com’s David Pick hears from Blatt himself that “a decision is coming soon” (Twitter link).

3:54pm: The Cavs have not made a formal offer to Blatt, but resolution could come as early as tonight, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.

3:35pm: The Cavs have identified Blatt as their choice and are expected to begin discussions about a deal soon, Wojnarowski reports. Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears that approval from owner Dan Gilbert is the final remaining obstacle (Twitter link).

2:59pm: Blatt is the strong favorite for the Cavs job, and an offer is imminent, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links).

1:37pm: The Cavs are believed to be deciding between Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue and former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach David Blatt for their head coaching vacancy, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). That means that fellow Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry, who like Lue received a second interview, is apparently out of the running.

Blatt received his first face-to-face interview with the Cavs this week after having earlier spoken with GM David Griffin via telephone about the job. He’s also a candidate for an assistant coaching gig in Golden State, and people close to him have advised him to take the Warriors gig rather than go straight into head coaching for his first-ever NBA job, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. Cleveland is still trying to gather information about the Massachusetts native who played under Pete Carril at Princeton, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

The Cavs apparently are high on Lue because of his ability to connect with young players, Windhorst notes in his full story, and that would be a commodity on an already youthful roster that’s poised to add the No. 1 overall pick in this month’s draft. A report earlier this week indicated the team was quietly continuing to pursue marquee college coaches, and Nate McMillan‘s name surfaced last week as a latecomer to the race, but it sounds at this point like the team’s focus is narrowing.