Larry Drew was a highly-paid assistant coach behind Tyronn Lue, making close to $1 million a season. Part of the unwritten rule of a contract like that is if the head coach is fired you step in as the head man, with a little bump in salary.
However, when the Cavaliers fired Lue, Drew looked at the situation — unhappy veterans wanting a trade, young stars who don’t yet know how to play, and a lot of losses about to pile up on his resume — and wisely said he wanted some job security. He was doing the job temporarily but didn’t want to take on a no-win situation (in many senses of the phrase) and not have an extra year and some extra money on his deal. That led to a standoff with an organization already waist deep (at least) in uncertainty.
Drew finally got enough of a concession for him to take on the job, with Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN breaking the news.
Larry Drew and Cavaliers have agreed on a deal for rest of season and partial guarantee for next season, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 5, 2018
Drew will be the head coach for rest of this season and has an agreement for 2019-20 if Cavs choose to keep him — or will get a buyout payment should team decide to move on to a new coach, sources said. https://t.co/Jseeh7U20U
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 5, 2018
The assistant coaches on the roster did not get any additional security (that is not unusual).
Drew is well liked and respected by the players, this is a smart move which brings some level of stability to an organization that has had precious little of it since July 1. Drew is going to have to play the youth a lot and live with the ugly results, but that’s where the Cavaliers should be right now. This is a rebuilding team, management should not delude itself otherwise.
