Cleveland Cavaliers Assistants Are Working Without A Deal

Jun 16, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue yells from the sidelines against the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter in game six of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 16, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue yells from the sidelines against the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter in game six of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Cleveland Cavaliers coaching assistants are in a rock and a hard place type of predicament regarding their contract situations.

As we wait to see who the Cleveland Cavaliers add and/or retain to their organization, not everyone yet is receiving the opportunity to sign new contracts. According to Chris Haynes of cleveland.com, the Cavs assistant coaches are working without a contract at the moment.

They are working without a deal because head coach Tyronn Lue‘s negotiations for a contract extension are taking longer than expected. Had a contract extension been agreed upon and signed, every assistant would likely have received an offer from Cleveland by now.

The Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coaches that are working without a contract right now are Jim Boylan, Phil Handy, James Posey, and Vitaly Potapenko. Both Larry Drew and Mike Longbardi are the exceptions because of an option and when the contract was signed respectively.

More from Cleveland Cavaliers

In addition to the current situation surrounding the Cavs’ assistants, Haynes reported that Damon Jones, a former Cleveland Cavaliers player, will be promoted to the bench on Lue’s coaching staff. Jones was an assistant for Cleveland’s D-League team, the Canton Charge.

We have been waiting word on Lue’s contract extension. More recently it was announced that Cleveland is working on signing free agent center/power forward Chris Andersen aka “Birdman”. 

Related Story: Lue And The Cavs Are Negotiating A New Contract

Now, the process of the Cavs’ assistant coaches’ contracts have to be played out. All three scenarios have not been given a timeline as to exactly when a signing will be made. However, all are expected to be done relatively soon, especially given the Cavs success in 2016 under Lue and his coaching staff’s leadership.

More from Factory of Sadness

Despite many orders of business taking time to complete, the Cleveland Cavaliers are still accomplishing things this offseason. They were in the running for guard Dwyane Wade, who signed with the Chicago Bulls.

Via a trade with Chicago, Cleveland acquired guard/forward Mike Dunleavy Jr. and re-signed forward Richard Jefferson. They will eventually sign guard J.R Smith and forward LeBron James.

The Cavs also traded guard Matthew Dellavedova but that was basically a technicality to acquire something for him, rather than losing him for nothing. Delly had signed a four-year, $38.4 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks in the beginning of free agency.

The Cavs’ coaching staff salaries, including Lue’s, will not affect their spending. Just like in other sports, such salaries are not part of a team’s salary cap.

Next: Kay Felder Shined In Summer League Debut

I do not like how long many pieces of business have not been completed. They will be agreed upon and with David Griffin as general manager, there has to be a creative (likely financial-heavy) reason(s) when and how certain transactions will be completed in the coming weeks.