Tribe Weekend Recap: Bauer & Tomlin as saviors, Carlos’ triumphant return, and a major roster decision looming
June 9, 2014Cavalier NBA Draft Film Room: Jabari Parker
June 9, 2014
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports Monday morning that the Cavaliers and Kentucky head coach John Calipari were in discussions to become the next coach and president of the team.
The report says that Dan Gilbert offered Calipari a seven year deal that would have paid him “in the range of $8 million-plus a year”.
At $8 million per year, Calipari would have been the highest paid NBA coach. Doc Rivers joined the Clippers for $7 million a season, and Gregg Popovich makes roughly $6 million to be the best coach in the league.
In fact, Bill Belichick’s contract is believed to be worth $7.5 million per year, and he is the highest paid coach in the NFL.
Calipari decided instead to accept an extension to stay at Kentucky worth an estimated $52 million dollars over seven years.
Had Calipari decided to accept Gilbert’s offer, things would have gotten interesting in Cleveland.
“If Calipari had gone to Cleveland, the plan would’ve been for new general manager David Griffin to work with Calipari in the front office, but he would’ve ceded final decisions on personnel matters to Calipari, sources said.”
That doesn’t sound quite like what David Griffin had in mind when he took the Cavaliers job as general manager.
Of course, the obvious inference here is that Calipari would be the catalyst needed to lure Lebron James back to Cleveland.
[Related: Cavs will offer Kyrie Irving max deal]
16 Comments
Starting to feel like de javu all over again
Hey, I hear Mike Brown is available.
Hard to think Shaka Smart wouldn’t accept that deal. Think he’d be a better head coach too.
Chud could run the offense
I don’t feel very optimistic about the future of this organization. It’s hard to trust the national media and whether their bias against Gilbert exaggerates some of the stories, but it sure paints a picture of organizational dysfunction, whether true or not.
starting to feel as though Gamblin’ Dan is the Dan Snyder of the NBA
What a mess.
So, Calipari took $4mil less over 7 years for the opportunity to coach loaded Kentucky squads every single year (in a cruddy bball conference) rather than the chance that a certain MVP and HoF SF might come to the team through FA and make them a championship contender.
Not a tough decision. I’m happy that Gilbert helped Cal get the $$ he was after from Kentucky.
Fritz Shurmer was just awarded the lifetime achievement award for asst. NFL coaches, which definitely gets to go on Pat’s resume as well, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvVB_tueQg8
I agree about Shaka Smart, but they’re trying to completely reshape the franchise in this Calipari rumor (because of how much gravitas he has), kind of in the way that Browns did when they brought in Holmgren. /slamming head against desk.
Wrong or right, it would have made things interesting.
im not sure how this paints a picture of dysfunction though.
totally. there is absolutely ZERO pressure on Cal in the NCAA. He has already done all the work. Now he just needs to sit back and wait for the recruits to call him. If I had it like that I wouldn’t change either. Colleges erect statues to guys like Cal. The NBA just investigates them.
If this is true I’m becoming convinced the Cavs need a president with authority, someone with basketball knowledge to keep Gilbert from stepping on himself. It’s not that Calipari can’t excel in the NBA, it’s that the abrupt lurching between philosophic extremes is inherently unstable, seat of the pants, even Randy Lerner-like.
i think Calipari is vastly overrated…not very difficult to coach a team full of studs every year…Gilbert is just clowning around and it looks awful
interesting that all this leaks out after Calipari signs a new contract