The Cavs promote Mike Gansey to the role of General Manager
The Cleveland Cavaliers appear to be doing some house keeping, having just promoted a new GM along with changes to a few other key positions.
The Cavs are continuing their march towards becoming a title worthy team. With this latest move, Cleveland have made clear their intention to move in the right direction.
The Cavaliers promote Mike Gansey to GM
According to reports on Wednesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers promoted assistant general manager Mike Gansey to the lead GM role. The move comes in the wake of Koby Altman's recent appointment to the role of president of basketball operations. To be clear, Gansey will continue to assist Altman with scouting and personnel decisions, however, his new responsibilities will also include the Cavaliers' draft preparations and logistics.
"Mike has been an incredible resource to me and this organization and his work behind the scenes gives me great confidence that he is ready to take on more of a leadership role," Altman said in a team statement. "His community roots provides a unique perspective when evaluating players and the type of commitment needed to make a positive impact in Cleveland. I could not think of a better person to work alongside as we continue building this team toward sustainable success."
Mike Gansey's rise to the top
It's worth noting that Gansey's climb to the top has been nothing short of remarkable. A Cleveland high school player with Olmsted Falls, Gansey would later play college basketball for St. Bonaventure and West Virginia. Indeed Gansey actually proved to be quite an able player as he would go on to be a member of WVU's Sports Hall of Fame, before playing four seasons of professional basketball in Europe and the D League. He would finally retire in 2011, which incidentally was the same year that he landed a job as an intern in basketball operations with the Cavaliers. It wouldn't take long before his skill set was noticed as he rose through the ranks quickly to become the G League Executive of the Year in 2018 as GM of the Cavaliers' affiliate in Canton, Ohio.
Gansey will now take on the role of General Manager under the stewarship of Altman. At 39 years of age, he has been a key cog in the wheel that is the franchise, as it rolls towards a veritable revival. That of course can be seen with the recent drafting of lottery picks Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, along with their excellent acquisition of All-Star center Jarrett Allen and guard Caris LeVert.
The Cavs have made other moves as well
President Koby Altman also announced that alongside Gansey the franchise would now have a new Assistant General Manager in Brandon Weems who was promoted from Sr. Director of Player Personnel. Additionally there was also Jason Hillman who was promoted to Vice President of Basketball Operations from his previous role as Basketball Chief of Staff/Team Counsel; and Jon Nichols who rose to Vice President of Basketball Strategy and Personnel after serving as Sr. Director of Strategy and Research.