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.
Quite the bombshell press release from Cavs: David Griffin named GM, and coach Mike Brown is out
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) May 12, 2014
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.