David Blatt Boldly Predicts Cavs Championship, Compares LeBron to Moses

David Blatt wants you know two things: The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to win the 2016 NBA title, and LeBron James is a basketball prophet.

Allow me to explain. 

While at a business conference in Israel, the Cavaliers head coach decided to hold nothing back when riffing on James' value to Cleveland, per Keith Britton of 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland (h/t Slam Magazine):

This correlation doesn't quite fly, as Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal notes:

When he was done comparing James to a prominent figure in Abrahamic religions, Blatt then decided to sneak in a championship prediction: 

This is something we can work with, and it's not at all unreasonable.

The Cavaliers finished two victories shy of a title this past season, and they came that close while playing at less than full strength. They lost Kevin Love in Game 4 of Round 1, while Kyrie Irving left the floor for good in the closing minutes of Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

If the Cavaliers are able to contend with a historically good Golden State Warriors squad when James is on his own, just think of what they could do with actual help.

Especially when that help is on the way.

Or rather, on its way back.

Irving was already locked up for the next half-decade and should be good to go by next season. Love is now in the same boat after agreeing to a five-year max deal to stay in Cleveland, which he announced himself via the Players' Tribune. And his return cannot be understated.

At its core, Love's decision to remain in Cleveland is, as CBS Sports' Matt Moore points out, a commitment to winning at any personal cost:

Tristan Thompson, a restricted free agent, probably isn't going anywhere either.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports that contract talks have stalled between the restricted free agent and Cleveland, but as Windhorst and colleague Marc Stein previously noted, the Cavaliers seem likely to relent and give Thompson a deal worth more than $80 million.

So it looks like the band will stay together—the same band that, according to NBA.com, maintained the league's third-best net rating once Moses James returned from his two-week sabbatical in mid-January.

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

Comparing James to Moses is admittedly, um, odd. But everyone speaks in hyperbole from time to time, and Blatt was only trying to convey, albeit in politically incorrect fashion, James' peerless value to the Cavaliers. He's irreplaceable to their championship hopes, and Blatt just wants us to know it.

Really, there's nothing wrong with what Blatt said. Any of it. Especially the whole guaranteeing-a-championship thing. 

It's easy to argue, even downright believe, the Cavaliers will finish next season hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy because that's exactly what they're capable of doing.