The Cavaliers are making a hard push for Tom Izzo as their next coach. That much is clear. The question is how hard.
The Northern Ohio News-Herald is reporting that an offer has been made to Izzo to become the next head coach of the Cavs as they seek to keep LeBron James, a curious choice. Adrian Wojnarowski is citing sources that refute a contract has been offered.
Izzo isn’t part of the CAA Wesley tree, but majority owner of the Cavaliers Dan Gilbert is an MSU grad. And it’s not as if Izzo doesn’t have a highly impressive resume, having been to what I believe is 7,000 Final Fours in a row. But it’s still to be seen if he can have the same success at the pro level.
It’s also interesting because of all the options to go with in an attempt to lure LeBron back to Cleveland, the Cavs have opted to go for a college coach. Relevant, since, you know, LeBron with his vital link to college history. Izzo also made his mark in college basketball by taking guys without elite level talent to the top. The NBA doesn’t really work like that.
There are also talks that GM Danny Ferry chose to resign over just such a decision, with Ferry resisting the hiring of Izzo. Either way, if Woj is right and Izzo elects not to take the offer, that’s going to seriously hurt the Cavs’ legitimacy and make them seem like even more of a sinking ship trying to get LeBron to pull them to harbor. There are a lot of huge decisions being made, and it’s hard to say that they’ve been done with the best effort to retain LeBron James.