The Cavaliers are balancing their coaching pursuit against LeBron James’ free agency. One can’t progress too far along without the other.
That didn’t stop team owners and General Manager Chris Grant from spending Father’s Day evening with Byron Scott and his agent, Brian McInerney, in Michigan, according to McInerney, who called it a casual meeting between the two sides.
No contract offer has been made by the Cavaliers, McInerney said, and no more face-to-face meetings are scheduled.
“On a suit-and-tie-less Sunday, we discussed the competitive nature of all the men in ping-pong, pool, bowling, darts, dominos, cards, baseball and, of course, basketball,” McInerney said in an e-mail to the Akron Beacon Journal.
The Cavaliers are doing a thorough background check on Scott, according to a league source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to comment. The Cavs have talked to Nets President Rod Thorn, who hired Scott, and All-Stars Jason Kidd and Chris Paul, who both played for him. The Cavs walked away with high praise from all three.
Scott and Kidd had their disagreements while leading the Nets to consecutive appearances in the NBA finals in 2001 and ‘02. But both have long since smoothed over any differences and Kidd had nothing but praise for Scott, according to the source.
Scott is believed to be the Cavs’ top choice in a field that has been narrowed to four or five candidates and includes Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw. Both men are also logical candidates in Los Angeles should Phil Jackson decide to retire in coming days.
McInerney stressed that Scott is staying out of the way in Los Angeles, despite reports that he is trying to use the Cavaliers to leverage the Lakers. That isn’t true, McInerney said, because the Cavaliers have yet to even present an offer. It has widely been questioned how much interest Scott really has in the Cavaliers, but McInerney said Scott’s interest is very much legitimate.
“Coach Scott needs to make the absolute correct choice regarding his next coaching assignment and is not involved in the various hypothetical situations regarding Los Angeles or Cleveland,” McInerney said in the e-mail. “Coach Scott admires Coach Jackson and believes he will go for the immortal phrase invented by Scott: Three-Peat. Byron also believes that Brian Shaw will make a great head coach with any team fortunate to retain him. In the Laker family, every member supports other family members for a lifetime.”
Scott won three championships as a player and has appeared in the NBA Finals seven times — five as a player and twice as a coach. He has also coached both the Eastern and Western Conference All-Star teams.
No Z talks
The Cavaliers have yet to contact center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, according to his agent, Herb Rudoy. With free agency beginning in a few days, it could mean the end to Ilgauskas’ career in Cleveland. Despite being traded to Washington last season, Ilgauskas never played a minute for the Wizards and therefore has played every game in his career for the Cavaliers since being drafted by the team in 1996.
“I expect that there will be a number of teams actively bidding to sign him to a multiyear contract,” Rudoy said.
Ilgauskas and Rudoy were overwhelmed at the amount of interest around the league in the 7-foot-3 center last season when he was a free agent for a month. Ilgauskas, 35, had hinted at retirement before last season began. Now he intends to keep playing.
If he leaves the Cavaliers, he will depart as the franchise leader in games played, rebounds and blocked shots.
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