NBA News 2016: Knicks Eyeing to Hire David Blatt for next Season; Randy Wittman 'Expected to be Fired' by Wizards This Week
The New York Knicks are considering acquiring the services of former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt for the next season.
The Cavaliers fired the 56-year old veteran coach in January, citing that the team needs to "build a collective spirit, a strength of spirit, a collective will." Cavaliers' general manager David Griffin attributed his team's then lackluster performance to being "disconnected".
Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Tyronn Lue subsequently replaced Blatt, and has managed to keep the Cavs at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
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The team currently holds a win-loss record of 57-25. In a report by Ian Begley for ESPN, the Knicks is actually considering Blatt as one of the candidates, despite not having the experience of running Phil Jackson's patented triangle offense.
"Running the triangle remains a priority for Jackson, but having experience running the offense is not necessarily a prerequisite for the job, according to league sources familiar with the team's thinking," an excerpt of Begley's report reads.
Coaching changes seem to be a norm for the Knicks, with Jackson as the President for Basketball operations. In February, he decided to let go of Derek Fisher, who ironically was one of his players back when he served as coach of the Los Angeles Lakes from 2007-2012.
Meanwhile, the Washington Wizards are 'expected to fire' current head coach Randy Wittman. In a tweet by the Washington Post's Jorge Castillo, an anonymous source has claimed that Wittman will no longer be returning at the helm of the Wizards' bench for the coming season.
"Randy Wittman will not return as coach of the Wizards next season, according to a source," Castillo's tweet reads.
In another tweet by Adrian Wojnarowski for Yahoo! Sports' 'The Vertical' one of the replacements that are being eyed to step in for Wittman is former Utah Jazz shooting guard Jeff Hornacek.
The Wizards ended their season at the number ten spot at the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 41-41.
