According to multiple reports, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Larry Drew have parted ways. It seems as though Shams Charania of The Athletic had the news first.
Sources: The Cavaliers and head coach Larry Drew have mutually parted ways.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 11, 2019
While this was Drew’s first season as the team’s head coach, he’s been with the team since the 2014-15 season when LeBron James came back, he’ll leave with a championship ring. Not bad. He took over for Tyronn Lue early on this season after a bizarre bit of controversy where it was clear the Cavs were looking for a short-term solution, but that Drew would be severely underpaid as an interim head coach for nearly a full season. The Cavs and Drew worked it out, but the team struggled through a roster that went through injuries and cuts. By December, it was clear that Drew was miserable.
Still, the tune around the team started to change near the end of January, and everyone seemed happier as the play of Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman improved. With the return of Kevin Love the team even displayed some competence, though they still finished the season tied for the second-worst record in the league. Drew deserves credit for a team that played hard most nights, and for continuing to look for ways to utilize Sexton. The rookie point guard’s shot selection improved markedly in the second half of the year.
The team will likely cast a wide net as they look to their next coach, and there’s already reporting linking them to various assistants around the league. There’s talk that they’ll look to the college game, which of course leads to speculation around Tom Izzo.
Cleveland is expected to examine the college head coaching ranks too, sources said. Player development will likely be one of the premium factors in the hiring process. https://t.co/P25jhxxxeV
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 11, 2019
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN also mentioned Darvin Ham, an assistant for the Milwaukee Bucks as a potential candidate. Really, we have no idea where this is going. Flexibility on NBA trends and concepts and the ability to reach and manage young and big egos are always the things you’re looking for. We’ll see where it goes.