The Cleveland Cavaliers and head coach Larry Drew have mutually parted ways, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Drew took the reins of the rebuilding franchise in October when previous coach Tyronn Lue was dismissed.
During Drew’s stint as head coach, the Cavaliers went 19-57. Prior to his promotion, the 61-year-old had served as an assistant coach dating back to 2014, even spelling Lue on the bench for nine games during March 2018.
Without a doubt, the 2018-19 season was a tough campaign for the Cavaliers on the heels of a four-year championship run with LeBron James on the roster, but Drew settled into the new reality and did an admirable job assisting the development of the team’s young players.
As Drew told Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com earlier this week, the franchise had a mandate to let young players play and learn from their mistakes. Lottery pick Collin Sexton is a shining example of progress made over the course of a trying campaign.
Drew had been initially reluctant to expect the head coaching gig without an appropriate bump in salary. In November the two parties signed a new contract for 2018-19 with a partially guaranteed option in 2019-20.
