The Ferry Has Sailed

About an hour ago Brian Windhorst reported that Cavs GM Danny Ferry has resigned from his position. His contract was due up at the end of this month. The move was seen as one that was mutual. Cavs assistant GM Chris Grant has been moved up to GM now. Grant has been with Ferry since 2005 and two years ago Grant rejected a GM job offer from the Atlanta Hawks. Here are some thoughts of mine.

-Danny Ferry was a great GM. He learned from his mistakes in 2005 and he drafted Daniel Gibson, JJ Hickson, Shannon Brown, and Danny Green. He traded for Mo, Antawn, and Shaq. He never got ripped off in a trade and always maximized value. We go Mo, Jamison, and Shaq for nothing.

-One of my friends made a great point that while Ferry always maximized value, he sometimes was better off getting the BEST player available. Getting Jamison and Mo for nothing was great, but their contracts are going to weigh on our cap for a couple more years.

-I think this move indicated that Gilbert is indeed putting his foot on the pedal to get a big name coach. This includes Phil Jackson, Coach K, Tom Izzo, John Calipari, and Larry Brown. These coaches are going to want to have a say in personnel matters. Former Lakers GM Jerry West left LA because Jackson wanted more power within the organization. Ferry did not want to give up the power he had over all personnel and draft moves.

-I think Ferry wanted to go after a more conservative assistant coach (Kelvin Sampson) and Gilbert wanted to swing for the fences. Ferry would not be comfortable with a coach he did not hire.

-I am not sure if this is a smart move. We had back to back 60 win seasons but we failed twice in the playoffs. Gilbert is a successful businessman and I put a lot of trust in him. The organization needs stability. I know he has a plan going forward. He would not let Ferry go without knowing what he would do in the coming weeks.

-GM Chris Grant was Ferry's right hand man. He ran the Cavs draft and he was a part of many of the free agent signings and trades. I am sure he has learned a lot from Ferry and that we will see a similar strategy employed by Grant. The difference is I don't think Grant will want as much power as Ferry did, or Gilbert would have got rid of him as well.

-Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown was asked today about his coaching situation and he said "I don't have anything to say. Dan Gilbert fervently pursued Brown in 2005 to become out team president....

I think that just about does it. Again these next 5-6 weeks will be pretty intense, especially with the uncertainty of LeBron, along with a new coach and GM coming on board. Thanks for reading and go Cleveland!

-Raz