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According to Dan Gilbert, he is not getting involved in the Cavs’ negotiations with Larry Drew as the two sides continue to work out a deal to make Drew the team’s interim head coach. Instead, he’s leaving those up to general manager Koby Altman.
“I leave that up to Koby Altman and I’m confident they will get it worked out between the two of them,” Gilbert said Thursday after Cleveland was officially announced as the host of the 2022 All-Star game, per cleveland.com.
“I think Larry Drew is one of my favorite guys, favorite coaches, but I just don’t think it’s appropriate to comment on Koby and Larry Drew’s negotiations.”
Gilbert also said that it was “very difficult” to see Tyronn Lue, who the Cavs fired last Sunday, go.
“Very difficult. I like Ty as a person and a coach,” Gilbert said, per cleveland.com. “I think Koby’s feeling as well as the rest of the front office was that there’s certain coaches for certain eras I guess. Ty is a championship coach and this is a different kind of situation and he felt that Larry Drew was the best guy for that job.”
The notoriously competitive Gilbert also said he believes the Cavs will in fact be competitive this season despite having a 1-6 record coming into Thursday’s game against the Nuggets.
“I do think we’re competitive. I think you will see us become competitive, yeah,” he said, per cleveland.com. “We will see what happens tonight and the next few games here. We’re scoring enough points to win every game, but on the other side of the floor we could use some improving. If we do, we will see what happens. Plus it’s early in the season to make any kind of calls as to what the future is going to be.”
The most notable part of Gilbert’s comments are that he says he isn’t getting involved in Altman’s work. He has a history of getting involved in what his front office is going — it’s part of the reason why David Griffin is no longer the Cavs’ GM — and this would mark a change for him as an owner if true.