INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting ready to start prep for the 2026-27 season, but before the players take the court this fall, the front office has made some moves, including the promotion of Akron native Brandon Weems.
Weems was elevated to general manager on Friday after spending the last four seasons as assistant general manager. He has been with the Cavs for 11 seasons and now will take a larger role alongside President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman.
Altman spoke to the promotion in a statement provided in the team's press release.
"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...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."
The Cavs described the new role for Weems, saying that he "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."
In addition to promoting Weems to general manager, the Cavs elevated Jon Nichols to associate general manager and Brendon Yu and José Calderón to assistant general managers.
Nichols joined the organization prior to the 2013-14 season as director of analytics. Over the past four seasons, he has served as vice president of basketball strategy. Yu, the former general manager of the Cleveland Charge, is entering his 11th season with the Cavs organization.
Calderón, who played for the Cavs in 2017-18, rejoined the organization in 2022 as special advisor to the front office. Before taking the role in the Cavs' front office, Calderón had worked for the National Basketball Players Association, where he served as the special assistant to the executive director.
As the Cavs shifted roles and promoted members of their staff, the team also hired a new addition to the organization.
Dashiell Flynn has been hired as chief technology officer of basketball operations. Flynn comes to 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.
The Cavs described Flynn's role as being focused 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."
