Official GM and Head Coach Candidate List

[Karma]

Cavs target Morway for GM

By Brian Windhorst, Beacon Journal staff writer

The Cavaliers might be moving closer to rebuilding their front office.

According to an NBA insider, Indiana Pacers executive David Morway has become the front-runner to replace Jim Paxson as the Cavaliers' general manager. He could be hired once the Pacers are eliminated from the playoffs.

A former football and basketball agent, Morway has been a ranking official in the Pacers' organization for the past seven years. He is currently the vice president of basketball administration.

Known for his expertise with the salary cap and for talent evaluation -- he's been a leader in the Pacers' draft process during his tenure -- Morway generally has a good reputation around the NBA. Morway, 44, fits the parameters of what Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said he wanted in a general manager, someone from a "highly successful organization."

The Cavaliers are also moving ahead in their pursuit of a coach. Persons with knowledge of the search report former Golden State Warriors coach and current Memphis Grizzlies assistant Eric Musselman interviewed with the Cavaliers earlier this week in Detroit.

Morway has been in Detroit, where Gilbert lives, with the Pacers for their series with the Pistons this week.

Musselman is also expected to interview for the Orlando Magic coaching vacancy.

The Cavaliers have interviewed former Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders. Once thought to be the front-runner, it doesn't appear Saunders and the Cavaliers are close.

NBA insiders report Saunders has been offered the Portland Trail Blazers coaching job and was hoping to get an offer from the Cavaliers and perhaps a bidding war. So far, however, the Cavaliers haven't made an offer.

Link

So we are looking at a Morway / Musselman combination. A respected but low profile combination.

 

[Karma]

Armstrong move not tied to Cavs
Thursday, May 12, 2005
B.J. Armstrong resigned as special assistant to Chicago Bulls General Manager John Paxson to pursue other opportunities, in a statement released by the team on Wednesday.

It was rumored Armstrong was a candidate for GM with the Cavaliers, but Armstrong's resignation has nothing to do with a possible future with the Cavs, according to a source close to Armstrong. Armstrong worked in the Bulls' front office for five years. He played seven seasons with the Bulls, which included three NBA titles from 1991-93.

He was drafted 18th in the first round in 1989 by the Bulls. Armstrong retired after the 1999-2000 season and joined the front office in July 2000.

Link

Its all happening. So Armstrong out, and Morway likely in.

 

[Karma]

Weltman interviews with Cavaliers
Nuggets assistant GM is up for Cleveland's general manager post

By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News
May 12, 2005

Jeff Weltman followed in his father's footsteps as an NBA executive. The career path soon might lead closer to home.

Weltman, an assistant general manager for the Denver Nuggets since 2001, is a candidate to fill the vacant general manager position for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Weltman, 40, interviewed with the Cavaliers on Tuesday. His father, Harry Weltman, was the Cleveland general manager from 1983 to 1986.

Reached on Wednesday, Weltman confirmed he met with Cavaliers officials but said he could not comment further.

It is the second year in a row Weltman has applied for a vacant general manager position. He interviewed with the Toronto Raptors last year.

The Cavaliers have been searching for a general manager since firing Jim Paxson on April 21.

In addition to Weltman, other candidates reportedly include Indiana Pacers vice president of basketball operations David Morway, Seattle SuperSonics general manager Rick Sund and New Jersey Nets general manager Ed Stefanski.

Working closely with general manager Kiki Vandeweghe, Weltman has been an instrumental part of Denver's rise from perennial lottery team to playoff participant.

In the past four years, the Nuggets have made more than one dozen trades to put together a core group of talent that includes forwards Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin, center Marcus Camby and guards Andre Miller and Earl Boykins.

Before coming to Denver, Weltman spent 13 years with the Los Angeles Clippers. Originally hired by the Clippers as a video coordinator, he was the team's director of player personnel from 1994 to 2001.

Link

My god. I cannot keep up. Being a Clipper for so long worries me a tad.

 

[Karma]

The NBA off-season carousel is heating up and so are the rumors.

There were various media reports Tuesday that the Cavaliers were talking to both Denver Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe and two-time championship coach Chuck Daly about positions within their front office.

Team insiders said members of the Cavaliers ownership group approached Daly more than a month ago to consult him about their coach and general manager openings and then offered him a high-ranking position with the franchise. Daly turned them down, citing that he was near his 75th birthday. It is possible Daly, a former Cavaliers coach, eventually could accept a more diminished role.

A person close to Vandeweghe said Tuesday that the rumors of him speaking with the Cavaliers as reported were false. Nuggets officials also indicated that the Cavaliers haven't been given permission to speak with him.

"Kiki is under contract with the Denver Nuggets for another year," Paul Andrews, the executive vice president of the Nuggets' parent company, Kroenke Sports Enterprises, told the Rocky Mountain News.

The Cavaliers did get permission to interview Nuggets assistant general manager Jeff Weltman and he remains in the mix for the vacant general manager job.

Some around the league have hinted that the Cavaliers are looking to hire a team president in addition to a general manager and coach, a hierarchy adopted by successful teams like the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat and Boston Celtics to name a few.

Link

Just some more tidbits.

 

[Karma]

Saunders No Certainty in Portland

Blazers, give us a reason to believe
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
The lights are off. The blinds are open. The office walls of the future head coach of the Trail Blazers have been stripped bare.

There are two bottles of orange juice in the mini-refrigerator. If only we knew who would end up drinking them.

The Blazers have either offered, or not offered Flip Saunders a contract that could be worth as much as $8 million annually. And they've either requested, or not requested permission to talk with New Jersey's Ed Stefanski about the job of general manager. And Tuesday, forward Wayne Simien and three other draft prospects worked out on two basketball courts at the practice facility.

The Simien part isn't debatable.

He was really there, promise.

Simien wore Kansas-blue Adidas high tops. He shot free throws. Then he and the others ran, shuffled and back-pedaled around orange cones. General manager John Nash and player personnel director Kevin Pritchard were watching.

Activity everywhere -- and over in the head coach's office?

Crickets.

So maybe this is a good time to talk facts.

The Blazers haven't offered Saunders $8 million annually. They haven't even offered Saunders a contract. And they haven't asked the Nets for permission to talk to Stefanski, either.

["There's a lot of incorrect information out there."

Attribute that quote to whomever you want -- Nash . . . President Steve Patterson . . . maybe the guy who folds towels at the practice facility. It doesn't really matter. At least three people said it -- or something close to it -- on Tuesday.

Those three would be telling the truth.

Wouldn't they?

A fourth source, someone close to the hiring decision, said reports that Saunders had an offer from Portland were "wrong." And a fifth person pointed out that one of the recent reports of a Blazers offer to Saunders came from the Akron Beacon Journal.

Akron is in Ohio.

"Where do you think Saunders' agent is?" the person asked.

So it's possible that some of these rumors are originating from Camp Saunders. No, not from Flip himself. Other people. People who would love to ignite a bidding war among the Blazers, Cavaliers and maybe the Knicks. Because a $6 million rumor suddenly turned into an $8 million rumor that is sure to hit $10 million and a 16-foot fishing boat if we continue to swallow this whole.

There is some posturing going on. And the flow of misinformation is not coming from One Center Court. The Blazers would be dumb to make a premature offer to any coach, especially Saunders.

So here's a cheat sheet on how the first part of the negotiation between the Blazers and their next coach should go:

"Would you accept an offer if we made it?"

"Are you offering?"

"We're only offering if you'd accept the job."

Patterson and Co. should feel free to clip this out of the newspaper and refer to it during the negotiations. For easy reference, they could put it on one of those trendy little Jeff Tedford-style wristbands.

In the end, if Saunders is put in a position to use the Blazers for leverage, he will. But if he jilts them a second time this decade, he's going to do so knowing the consequences. Around Portland, people will scowl and call him things such as, "That little Flipper" (or something like that) when they see him on television.

What we all need to keep in mind here is that the coaching decision isn't the most critical event of this offseason. It's just the biggest decision that Blazers management has control over. And that makes all of us a wee bit nervous, doesn't it?

The most critical event this summer for Portland is the potential NBA lockout. A lockout would affect the Blazers and hinder their ultra-young roster more than any other team.

So why isn't the lockout the biggest concern? Because you don't yet trust management. And management, through a string of questionable contract extensions and its dealings with Darius Miles, hasn't earned your trust, either.

That's the real problem here. And it's why the rumors feel so unsettling to fans. Eight million dollars a year is an unbelievable sum to pay Saunders. Unbelievable for anyone but the Blazers.

This is a management team that handed a head-case $48 million when nobody else was bidding. Then, when Miles blew up at his coach, management publicly fined him. Later, behind the coach's back, management drafted a settlement agreement with Miles. And when management got caught red-handed?

All part of a larger plan to rehabilitate Miles, they claimed.

Rehabilitate yourselves, boys.

They want blind faith?

Most of us are past that. But what management has is the opportunity to restore a little faith by making a good hire. And rehabilitate their reputations, a little, by not botching the process as the Blazers did when they fumbled around with Stefanski and others in getting Nash.

Management must realize how critical this hire is to its survival. The team's 2005 Basketball Operations plan, obtained by The Oregonian, hinged on an overall goal of 50 victories.

That was unrealistic. Which makes you wonder if the Blazers are unable to see themselves as others do. Which makes you downright concerned when it comes to this coaching hire.

We all want a reason to believe this is going to turn around. So give us one, Blazers. And do it soon.

The next coach should be involved with the draft. You didn't need to see Simien's reflection on the windows of that empty coaching office to realize Tuesday's missed opportunity.

But the reflection was there anyway.

I love merry go rounds

 

[Karma]

Back to the vacant GM spot, it is now known that Morway has been interviewed three times. It seems now highly likely that Gilbert will officially announce Morway when the Pacers are knocked out of the playoffs.

 

[E-Light]

Morway is my bet too. The other candidates who are attainable just don't have good resume's.

 

[NarlCavs]

I guess we should root for the Pistons to knock Indiana out tomorrow. It would be best to get a new GM, if it is Morway, in place quickly.
Hopefully this will lead to the new coach getting hired soon too. I don't want to see that drag out and have the Cavs miss out on the best candidates.

Morway and Musselman seem like a promising duo now. Two respected younger guys on the rise.