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Cleveland Cavaliers promote Brandon Weems to General Manager

Weems has held several high-ranking positions within the Cavaliers organization since joining in 2015.

Official release

Weems has been a part of the Cavaliers organization for 11 seasons, including the last four as Assistant General Manager.

CLEVELAND – Cleveland Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman announced today that Brandon Weems has been promoted to General Manager. The team has also elevated Jon Nichols to Associate General Manager and Brendon Yu and José Calderón to Assistant General Managers. The Cavaliers have also added Dashiell Flynn as Chief Technology Officer of Basketball Operations. All appointments are effective immediately.

“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 been a part of the Cavaliers organization for 11 seasons, including the last four as Assistant General Manager (2022-2026). In addition, Weems spent one season as the Senior Director of Player Personnel. The Akron, Ohio native began his tenure with the Cavaliers as a scout in 2015 and was promoted to Director of Scouting in 2017, a position he held for four seasons (2017-2021).

In his new role as General Manager, Weems will take on increased responsibility across the organization’s basketball operations, including ownership of roster management and contract negotiations, oversight of global scouting and the day-to-day operations of the team. He will also continue to work closely with Altman on the NBA Draft process, including player evaluations and rankings, background research and statistical analysis of draft-eligible prospects.

Nichols joined the organization prior to the 2013-14 season as Director of Analytics. Over the past four seasons (2022-26), he served as Vice President of Basketball Strategy after one season as Senior Director of Strategy and Research.

He currently leads the organization’s data strategy efforts while assisting with roster management, contract and free agency negotiations, trade negotiation strategy, long-term operational planning and the application of the collective bargaining agreement in roster construction. As Associate General Manager, Nichols will expand his responsibilities to include shaping on-court basketball strategy models and innovations, while continuing to evolve the team’s player value and draft models.

Yu is entering his 11th season with the Cavs organization, including four seasons in the G League as General Manager of the Cleveland Charge (2019-2023), with Director of College Scouting for the Cavaliers added to his title ahead of the 2022-23 season. In addition, Yu spent two seasons as the Director of G League Operations and Basketball Operations, Special Projects. He began his tenure with the Cavaliers as the basketball operations seasonal assistant in 2014-15. As Director of Scouting, Yu led the talent evaluation of collegiate and professional athletes and oversaw personnel for the Cavaliers, including international and NBA G League players.

Under Yu’s previous leadership with the Charge, the team had 16 NBA Call Ups, including current Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill. During the 2022-23 season, the Charge went 30-20 and clinched a spot in the 2023 NBA G league Playoffs for the first time since 2016-17.

Calderón rejoined the organization in 2022 as Special Advisor to the Front Office. He was instrumental in assisting the front office in achieving their goals both on and off the court in a variety of engagements, including the Cavaliers’ 2026 Training Camp at The Embassy in Andalusia. Prior to joining the front office, Calderón previously worked for the National Basketball Players Association where he served as the Special Assistant to the Executive Director, working closely with then-NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts and the NBPA’s senior management team on union strategy and specific issues relevant to current NBA players. Calderón spent 14 seasons in the NBA, playing for seven different teams, including the Cavaliers’ NBA Finals run during the 2017-18 season.

Flynn joins the Cavaliers from Amazon Web Services, where he served in machine learning and sports strategy roles since 2018, most recently as Global Head of AI for Sports. In his role, he will focus on the development and integration of new technologies and tools across basketball operations, while helping establish the infrastructure and governance to support the department’s strategic initiatives. Flynn brings more than 20 years of experience across consulting, government and technology, including strategy consulting at Accenture.

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