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 CLEVELAND (AP) - Their shocking collapse complete, the Cleveland Cavaliers began to rebuild on Thursday — from the top. Jim Paxson was fired as the club's general manager, dismissed by new owner Dan Gilbert one day after the Cavaliers' chaotic season ended short of the NBA playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.
Expected for weeks, Paxson's firing came exactly one month after coach Paul Silas was fired with 18 games left by Gilbert, the online mortgage banker who has had a rough introduction into operating a pro sports franchise.
On March 1, Gilbert took over a 31-24 team that appeared playoff-bound. But a prolonged losing skid, compounded by Silas' firing and rumors that Paxson was next, LeBron James wasn't happy and free agent center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was apartment hunting in New York, has Gilbert entering his first summer looking for a coach and GM.
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