The uneasy stalemate between the Cavaliers and non-interim acting head coach Larry Drew has now reached a form of resolution. Drew held out for more, and successfully got the Cavs to give him a little more. Here it is:
Drew’s deal “can be terminated for a buyout figure if the Cavaliers decide to conduct a search and hire a new coach,” according to Woj’s story. When the Cavs inevitably move on from Drew after this season—Woj says the Cavs will probably want to “conduct a search and target a coach to direct the franchise’s rebuild,” which, no shit—instead of just being regular fired, Drew will be fired with pay. It’s hard to imagine the Cavs wanting to keep Drew after this season—he’s an extremely unsexy long-term choice, and almost nothing about their current team will be worth keeping beyond this season. It’s severance pay! Larry Drew turned his leverage as the person best positioned to coach these awful Cavs this season into an opportunity to get paid to not coach these awful Cavs next season. That’s good work.