The Cleveland Cavaliers have made several changes to their basketball operations department, highlighted by the promotion of Brandon Weems to general manager.
Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman announced that Jon Nichols has also been promoted to associate general manager, while Brendon Yu and José Calderón will serve as assistant general managers. Dashiell Flynn joins the organization as chief technology officer of basketball operations.
“Brandon has earned this opportunity through more than a decade of exceptional work with the Cavaliers and by consistently demonstrating elite judgment and the expertise required to help lead our basketball operations,” said Altman. “He has been instrumental in our player evaluation and roster-building processes, has a deep understanding of our culture, and has grown into a tremendous leader. We’re fortunate to have that level of talent and experience within our organization, and these moves reflect our confidence in the people who have helped build and sustain it. Elevating Brandon, along with Jon, Brendon and José, and adding Dashiell allows us to maintain the high level of continuity and collaboration that are important to us while empowering proven leaders in their respective areas.”
Weems has spent 11 seasons with Cleveland, beginning as a scout in 2015 before eventually becoming director of scouting, senior director of player personnel and assistant general manager. He held the latter position for the previous four seasons.
As general manager, Weems will have greater responsibility for roster decisions and contract negotiations while overseeing global scouting and daily basketball operations. He will continue working alongside Altman on draft evaluations, prospect research and analysis.
Nichols has been with Cleveland since the 2013-14 season and most recently served as vice president of basketball strategy. His expanded position will include work on basketball strategy, player valuation and draft models in addition to his existing responsibilities involving contracts, trades and roster planning.
Yu enters his 11th season with the organization after holding several scouting and G League positions, including four seasons as general manager of the Cleveland Charge. Under his leadership, the Charge produced 16 NBA call-ups and reached the 2023 G League playoffs.
Calderón, a former Cavaliers player who spent 14 seasons in the NBA, returned to Cleveland in 2022 as a special advisor to the front office. He previously worked with the National Basketball Players Association following his playing career.
Flynn arrives from Amazon Web Services, where he most recently worked as Global Head of AI for Sports. His Cavaliers role will center on introducing and integrating new technology across basketball operations while developing the infrastructure needed to support those initiatives.
