Cleveland Cavaliers rumors: 4 impacts of firing Ty Lue

1. The tank job is coming

After just the first two losses of the season, both Altman and Lue informed Channing Frye, Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith the organization was “going young,” according to The Athletic (subscription required).

They heard that as “Tanking,” according to scribe Joe Vardon.

The Cavs then went into their third game, the home opener, against the Hawks, and got waxed on their home court. Collin Sexton played way to many minutes and looked terrible on defense. But given what Vardon reported, Lue was on orders not just from Altman, but also from Dan Gilbert to play the rookie.

It was after that beatdown that Lue took back his rotation and just started doing his own thing, putting back in Korver, who by the way, had an excellent game the other night.

Now with Drew carrying out Altman’s orders, rotations are going to be in-step with what the front office desires.

And while Kevin Love has missed a few games because of injury, Cavs’ fans have to ask if it really matters. Love’s a really, really good player. But he just can’t carry a team, especially one looking to look at young talent.

There’s a lot of stake when it comes to losing this season. If the team finishes with a top 10 pick in next spring’s draft, Cleveland gets to keep the pick. Otherwise, it gets moved to the Atlanta Hawks to complete the Kyle Korver trade from 2016.