Cavaliers Hire Zydrunas Ilgauskas As Special Assistant GM

by Conrad Kaczmarek on Jan 19, 2012 9:40 AM CST in Cleveland Cavaliers in the News

Big Z is coming back to Cleveland! The Cavaliers decided that a year away from the organization was too long for Zydrunas Ilgauskas when they announced that the former Cav would be joining the front office to assist GM Chris Grant.

Here is the official announcement from the team.

Ilgauskas played for the Cavaliers for 12 years after being drafted 20th overall in the 1996 draft. As you probably know, Big Z spent last season playing for the Miami Heat in search for his first NBA championship. Unfortunately (?) he didn't get it and announced his retirement this past off-season. During his tenure with the Cavaliers, Z was perhaps the most beloved player on the roster and his love for Cleveland was apparent.

By joining the front office of the organization, Ilgauskas will likely be responsible for assisting in the scouting and evaluation of potential prospects, especially international players. I'm not so sure about Z's experience in running a franchise but he spent a very long time in the NBA and certainly has a firm grasp on the workings of an NBA team.

Ultimately, I'm not sure if this is much more than some good PR for Dan Gilbert and the Cavs, but either way, I'm glad that Big Z is back. He was nothing but class while playing for the Cavs and even when he left after the 2009-10 season, he took a full page ad in the Plain Dealer to thank his fans in Ohio (this cannot be said about every player that left in free agency that year).

On the behalf of Fear The Sword and Cleveland Cavaliers fans everywhere, welcome back Big Z!

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Yanks are the Empire. Red Sox are the Empire with PR claiming they are the Rebellion.

by OPace on Jan 19, 2012 12:24 PM CST reply actions

This news put you to sleep?

by JulioBernazard on Jan 19, 2012 3:29 PM CST up reply actions

I happy for big Z now,can we retire his number as well?more than anything like CONRAD said I ithnk it is a pr move.but he probably can scout international better than most .EUROPEAN"S normally are good with languages so maybe traveling to europe to scout the player"s that we have the right to.maybe even scout some trade targets.does any one think he could help develop SEMIH ERDEN?sorry for rambling on but ,i just feel that doesn"t have to be only a pr move.he can be useful.

by beanjames on Jan 19, 2012 12:34 PM CST reply actions

Seriously, why always capitalize every name you type and use such horrific grammar? Clean it up.

With or Without the H

by johnf34 on Jan 19, 2012 1:44 PM CST up reply actions

Please.

With or Without the H

by johnf34 on Jan 19, 2012 2:07 PM CST up reply actions

sorry man i wont post anymore .i have dyslexia so i have a hard time wrighting things .so posting very difficult posting

by beanjames on Jan 19, 2012 2:42 PM CST reply actions

Apologies there, bean. Keep working on it though. Stick around!

With or Without the H

by johnf34 on Jan 19, 2012 3:17 PM CST up reply actions

Welcome back big man!

First duty - Get the disgruntled Dwight Howard in a Wine and Gold uniform.

by ProfessorChaos on Jan 19, 2012 3:10 PM CST reply actions

We can dream…

FearTheSword, SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers blog

by Conrad Kaczmarek on Jan 19, 2012 3:59 PM CST up reply actions

Such a great picture.

by GoBrowns on Jan 19, 2012 7:57 PM CST reply actions

Z of today has more game than any of other centers…Hollins, Erdin, Samuels (excluding V who should be at PF). If we weren’t trying to develop Erdin or Samuels, I’d love to see Z get 15 minutes a night and retire as a Cav.

by Richi on Jan 19, 2012 9:17 PM CST reply actions