Cleveland Cavaliers fire head coach Mike Brown

While Monday marked the previously anticipated announcement that the Cleveland Cavaliers have changed general manager David Griffin’s tag from “interim” to “permanent”, there was a big-time surprise in the same press release as issued by the club. The Cavaliers have elected to fire their head coach, Mike Brown.

The Cavs just finished a disappointing 33-49 season, but getting rid of Brown still comes as a surprise for a couple of different reasons. First, Brown just completed the first year of a five-year contract with the club, and that came after being fired during the LeBron James sweepstakes just a handful of years ago. Secondly, Cleveland was mired in injury woes throughout the 2013-2014 season, and after the arrival of their “final” cast that included Luol Deng and Spencer Hawes, they showed flashes of improvement.

Still, the 44-year-old Brown has been fired after a short stint for the second time (he was famously axed just fives games into a season with the Lakers) and the now permanent GM will have his hands full in finding a replacement. The Cavs have real talent on the roster, but with the lack of success since LeBron headed for South Beach, the opening isn’t terribly alluring.