David Blatt and LeBron James might not always see eye-to-eye, but Blatt sought to dispel the notion that they can’t get along, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt details.
“People sometimes judge things on a game or on a period of time and they forget that we’re in there working together and striving to make the utmost of our team and of our situation day to day,” Blatt said. “And a bond develops over time that is a lot more than what meets the eye. … I can just tell you it’s been a fantastic experience, and I’m looking forward to continuing it.”
Blatt said he’s excited about the chance to begin next season with all or most of the roster intact, and while all 15 Cavs assuredly won’t return, it seems like the team would like to keep its core together. Here’s more on the Eastern Conference champs:
- The Cavs “fully intend” to re-sign Tristan Thompson, GM David Griffin said, as Zillgitt tweets. James last month appeared to lobby for the the team to keep the former No. 4 overall pick who’s entering restricted free agency.
- The deadline for J.R. Smith to decide on his player option is Wednesday, Kevin Love‘s option deadline is Thursday and the deadline for James is June 29th, reports Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group (Twitter link). All three appear likely to opt out and elect free agency, though it appears the trio would nonetheless like to remain with the Cavs.
- Numerous executives from around the league believe it’s obvious that the Cavs will offer a max deal to Love, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Some executives had begun to doubt that notion during the season, as fellow ESPN reporter Chris Broussard said then, so perhaps Cleveland has warmed to the idea, or it could be a case of some executives having different opinions than others do.
- Several veterans at the end of Cleveland’s bench didn’t contribute much during the playoffs, and Griffin made it clear that he’ll seek to remedy that, as Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group relays. “I think from my perspective relative to the bench, yeah, we’d like to add some younger pieces,” Griffin said. “We’ll have some roster spots that we can change a little bit, and we’d like to get guys that are more in a 26 to 30 [age] range perhaps. Maybe finding the peak of their career.”