By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The day started with the rumors about CSKA‘s two year contract offer to Maccabi‘s coach David Blatt, a rumor which has been shut down numerous times by the Israeli coach. After all, what else can happen, when Maccabi Tel Aviv and CSKA Moscow are facing each other in the upcoming Euroleague semifinal?
However it’s not a secret that CSKA will need a new coach this summer, as Ettore Messina is expected to leave Moscow, and the prime candidates for the job – which is expected to be a two season’s deal – according to many sources are condidered David Blatt and the coach of Banvit Dimitris Itoudis (who recently gave us a really interesting interview). Itoudis is turning heads with the great season of Banvit in TBL, however Blatt in Russia is more than highly regarded, as he is the coach who led Russian national team to Eurobasket gold in 2007.
And now comes the interesting part. The season of Maccabi Tel Aviv was full of ups and downs and at one point even Blatt’s job wasn’t secure. His contract with Maccabi includes an option for next season, but can be also terminated from both sides. The opt out clause of Blatt has an earlier deadline than the clause of Maccabi and his compensation for an early termination before the 2014-15 season is around 150.000 US dollars.
So if Blatt wants to leave in order to get a better contract, or because he feels that he needs a change, then he is free to go. However at this point his obvious focus is the Final Four. After all, if there’s a chance to end up with CSKA, is there a better way to boost your profile than beating them in Milan?