Cavs set to hire Scott as coach
Byron Scott has reached agreement on a three-year contract to become the Cleveland Cavaliers’ new coach, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
The deal is expected to be finalized on Thursday.
Negotiations between the Cavs and Scott picked up after Brian Shaw withdrew from consideration on Wednesday.
Shaw said he never received a formal offer from the Cavs, but didn’t feel comfortable with the team’s Thursday deadline to make a hire.
“I know they have a timeline to hire a coach and I wasn’t able to meet that timeline,” Shaw told Yahoo! Sports. “I didn’t want to hold things up. It’s a great organization.”
Shaw wouldn’t comment on why he took issue with the timeline, but sources close to him said he wanted more clarity on whether LeBron James(notes) planned to return. Shaw also could become a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching job should Phil Jackson retire.
Scott told Y! Sports on Monday that he was interested in coaching the Cavaliers regardless of whether James returns.
“I would coach there without LeBron,” Scott said. “But they got a good shot at getting him back. Without him, they would probably go from 60 wins to 30 wins. But [without James], it’s still a better job than when I first started in New Jersey and it’s still a better job than when I first started in New Orleans.”
