Bob Finnan Article
For those of you champing at the bit for the Cavaliers to unveil their restructured front office, don't hold your breath.
Things won't be completed until after the June 28 NBA draft.
Several executives from around the league think there's a good chance the Cavaliers will hire Pistons coach Larry Brown as their president of basketball operations later this month. Obviously, with Brown's track record, there are no guarantees.
One executive said humorously that even if the Cavaliers had a signed contract, there's only a 90 percent chance he'd take the job.
If he comes to Cleveland, several sources said Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe and Spurs director of basketball operations Danny Ferry would likely be out of the mix -- despite ties to Brown. Vandeweghe played for Brown at UCLA and Ferry works in San Antonio under coach Gregg Popovich, the best man at Brown's third wedding. Both Vandeweghe and Ferry would want to head the basketball operations if they came to Cleveland.
Sources close to Vandeweghe said he was told that he might be Plan B for the Cavaliers if Brown pulls out.
''They're waiting on Larry,'' one source said.
One Eastern Conference executive said Brown was not happy when word leaked out that he spoke to the Cavaliers. Whether that would be enough for him to pull out of contention, no one knows.
One source said Vandeweghe could be had. He is scheduled to earn a base salary of $800,000 for 2005-06 -- the final season of his five-year contract. If the Cavaliers offer him $2 million or $2.5 million a season, he'd likely pounce on the offer.
The Cavaliers will structure their front office one way if Brown is the Grand Poobah and another way if he doesn't come aboard. Brown might be president and general manager with another person the director of player personnel.
Also, the New York Daily News reported that the door might not be closed on Milt Newton in Cleveland. The Wizards director of player personnel wouldn't comment at last week's pre-draft camp in Chicago.
Vandeweghe reportedly wants Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke to tear up the last year of his contract and give him a lucrative raise. But Kroenke has been reluctant to shell out big bucks.
The Nuggets GM has been the main voice of the team, but that changed when George Karl was hired as coach. That's another reason why Vandeweghe is listening to what the Cavaliers have to say.
If he were to leave Denver, assistant general manager Jeff Weltman could be promoted, while one source said Nuggets ownership could pursue Ferry for the job. Ferry, a former Cavaliers forward, is a rising, young executive who will soon run his own team. Of course, his father, Bob, was the long-time GM in Washington.
Despite comments to the contrary by Pistons president Joe Dumars last week, Brown isn't expected back in Detroit next year -- regardless of his health. He's burned too many bridges.
But what if he gets medical treatment after the NBA Finals and decides he wants to return to coaching next year? It would put the Pistons in an awkward situation. The owner supposedly doesn't want him back, so they would be forced to come to some kind of financial settlement on the final three years of his contract.
The Knicks are still waiting to hear if Brown is available -- as were the Lakers behind the scenes. Of course, Phil Jackson has first dibs on the job, and he could decide any day now that he wants to return to coach the Lakers.
Big man
From the outside looking in, the Cavaliers have three main objectives in free agency -- deal with the Zydrunas Ilgauskas situation, sign a major free-agent shooting guard and find another point guard.
Coach Mike Brown is a defensive whiz and vows to improve the team's defense. Instantly, everyone thought that would be the end of Ilgauskas in Cleveland. Not so fast, kemosabe.
Brown stresses team defense and he thinks Ilgauskas can function well in the Cavaliers' defensive unit. The biggest problem last year wasn't the 7-foot-3 big man, although he could definitely improve in that area. It was the backcourt allowing opposing guards to beat them off the dribble, which put intense pressure on the big men.
Largely because of that, there's talk that Ilgauskas could return next year.
One Eastern Conference executive said Ilgauskas is the biggest priority the Cavaliers face this summer. He said they would be foolish to let the big man walk in free agency. Another option would be to use him in a sign-and-trade.
But in order to sign all three components, the Cavaliers might have to carve out a little more cap space. Taking a look at the roster, they appear to be overloaded with swingmen -- LeBron James, Sasha Pavlovic, Luke Jackson, Jiri Welsch and Ira Newble. If they could ship off one of them -- well, obviously, not that one guy -- for perhaps a second-round pick, that would give them more room.
The Cavaliers will probably make a run at one of the electrifying shooting guards -- Ray Allen, Michael Redd, Larry Hughes, Joe Johnson or Bobby Simmons -- and they'll have the money to sign him to a major contract. They must find a competent outside shooter somehow.
But another very good point guard is needed. Antonio Daniels would be a perfect fit, but he might be leaning toward one of the Texas teams -- either Houston or Dallas. In all, eight teams have reportedly inquired about Daniels, including Cleveland, the Lakers, Memphis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Utah and Seattle.
One thing in Cleveland's favor might be the fact that Daniels played under Mike Brown and assistant Hank Egan in San Antonio.
- Insiders say the decision not to hire Flip Saunders was an easy one for Cavaliers ownership, especially after he reportedly informed them that he wanted some say in personnel matters.
- NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik supposedly informed league executives that the lockout could stretch until September. That would give teams about two weeks to sign free agents. ''Some bad mistakes will be made by teams,'' a league executive said.
- The Blazers recently fired several staff members suspected of leaking information to the media. Now, no one will talk about their coaching vacancy. Former Cavaliers assistant and current Suns assistant Marc Iavaroni and SuperSonics associate head coach Dwane Casey interviewed for the Portland job. When asked about the coaching vacancy, Blazers power forward Zach Randolph said on a Portland radio station: ''I like Coach (Paul) Silas.'' Silas, fired by the Cavaliers on March 21, said he has not been contacted by the Blazers. He has been interviewed by Minnesota.
- The Cavaliers plan on bulking up their video department under Mike Brown. Newly acquired Bryant Moore, 34, played with Brown at Mesa (Ariz.) Community College. He coached at UC-Riverside last year. The Cavaliers will retain last year's video coordinator Betsy McAllister.
- Detroit Shock coach Bill Laimbeer inquired about an assistant coaching job with the Cavaliers last March after Silas was fired.
Three points
1. Former Cavaliers coach Bob Donewald was angling for a spot on Coach Mike Brown's staff. He said LeBron James recommended him for a position. Donewald told Brown that James trusts him. Brown had an awesome reply. ''He's got to learn to trust his new coach,'' he said.
2. While talking to a scout last week at the pre-draft camp in Chicago -- scouts are at times among the most informed people in the league -- he said Danny Ferry probably wouldn't work under Larry Brown in the Cavaliers front office under any circumstances. ''It's probably a North Carolina-Duke thing,'' he said.
3. And, while we're on the subject of Ferry, someone asked this question: ''If he gets hired by the Cavs, is he going to ask for a 10-year, $34 million contract?''
Information for this column was gathered by personal interviews and from other beat writers around the league.
