The day after the draft, Hansen had Rondo drive his Rolls-Royce as they headed to Cleveland.
Guy and Randolph were still in Memphis, and they all came to bid him farewell when they learned he was leaving.
Guy’s eyes reddened once more, as simpler people’s emotions tend to fluctuate more easily.
Hansen patted Guy on the shoulder, "This isn’t a goodbye forever."
He would return to play in Memphis, including participating in the All-Star Weekend to be hosted there next year.
After waving goodbye to Guy and the others, Hansen’s gaze was once again drawn to the distant Pyramid Arena.
At that moment, he felt the marvel of life.
Who could have imagined that the scenes from his arrival four years ago and his departure now would be exactly the same?
But this time they didn’t stop along the way, and instead drove straight back to Cleveland.
The familiar fresh air, the familiar greenery, and of course, the familiar cityscape.
After many twists and turns, he had returned to this suitable place for retirement.
But this time, they didn’t have to fuss themselves, as the Cavaliers had already arranged a residence for them, a luxurious villa near Quicken Loans Arena.
After achieving a dynasty in Memphis, his return to Cleveland was truly a triumphant one.
And just after he had arrived, Griffin came over to see him.
He also brought some items, including an access card for Quicken Loans Arena and a directory of the Cavaliers’ management, among other things.
Griffin was very reliable in handling things. Follow current novels on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝔫𝔢𝔱
Moreover, he wasn’t new to Hansen and was well aware of Hansen’s needs.
Of course, he wasn’t just there to deliver these items, as it wasn’t something that only he could do.
His main reason for coming was to discuss the new season’s matters with Hansen.
First and foremost was the issue of the team’s head coach.
Last season, the Cavaliers were truly determined to make the playoffs.
At the start of the season, they had re-hired their former coach Mike Brown and signed Garrett Jack, later trading for Luol Deng and Hawes among others.
Unfortunately, they still failed to make the playoffs.
Although it’s considered a blessing in disguise from the current perspective, the management had decided to part ways with Brown once again.
Of course, did Hansen play a role in this? Undoubtedly, to some extent.
After all, the relationship between Brown and Hansen wasn’t pleasant before, and the management didn’t need to keep Brown if it made Hansen uncomfortable.
Firing Brown naturally required finding a replacement.
The preferred candidate for the management was Mike Malone.
When Hansen left the team, Malone left as well.
Over the years, he had worked his way up and was the head coach of the Kings last season.
However, the Kings were not a place anyone could easily manage, and despite getting along well with the team’s core, Cousins, and achieving only a 28-54 record last season, he was on the verge of being sacked.
Considering Malone’s mentor-mentee relationship with Hansen during their time with the Cavaliers, it was a great opportunity.
On bringing Malone back, Hansen naturally had no objections.
Although they hadn’t worked together in four years, they hadn’t lost contact.
Every time Hansen won a championship, Malone sent his congratulations via text.
And after so many years in the NBA, he had a good understanding of the role of an NBA coach.
In fact, as long as you do not hinder the team and communicate well with the players, you are already better than most coaches.
After all, the main factors that determine a team’s strength are the players.
Moreover, Malone had quite the substantial knowledge to offer.
Then, Griffin talked about the forthcoming free agency.
The turnover rate of NBA players is very high. Most of the old Cavaliers, like O’Neal and Jamison, had either retired;
or faded out of the league, and now, apart from James and Hansen, only Mo Williams and West were still active.
West, needless to say, had signed a minimum wage contract with the Grizzlies last season and was now a free agent.
Billups hardly played last season, so West got quite a few opportunities, contributing an average of 6.2 points and 2.5 assists per game.
Mo Williams had also been wandering over the years, transferring between the Clippers, Jazz, and Blazers among others.
He signed a 2-year, 5.6 million US Dollar contract with the Blazers last season, averaging 9.1 points and 4.7 assists per game, and was likely to opt-out and re-sign this summer.
Griffin planned to sign both of them back during the summer.
Between Malone and the old Cavaliers, Hansen could clearly sense that the management was racking their brains to make him feel at home.
Of course, considering what Gilbert said when he sought him out, they somewhat wanted to prove that "the Cavaliers’ failure previously was due to James’s inadequacy, not because of the team."
Hansen had no complaints about these.
However, Hansen did not continue to discuss in-depth with Griffin.
The Cavaliers were now somewhat in need of rebuilding.
The contracts of Deng and Hawes, acquired last season, had expired.
Besides him on Griffin’s roster list, only Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dante Cunningham, Garrett Jack, Anderson Varejao, and Matthew Delavadova had guaranteed contracts.
All these players combined were just around 44 million US Dollars, nearly 20 million below the salary cap.
This meant they needed to work hard this summer.
But this operation couldn’t be done blindly, as it involved the team’s strategic system.