Blatt was on Cleveland 's radar from the start of its search .
Blatt emerged as a strong candidate late in the process , and Blatt 's announcement last week Blatt he was leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv to pursue an NBA job appeared to accelerate the process .
Blatt was on Cleveland 's radar from the start of its search , but he emerged as a strong candidate late in the process , and his announcement last week that he was leaving Maccabi Tel Aviv to pursue an NBA job appeared to accelerate the process .