00:00He is the general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and we weren't able to say that just a few months
00:05ago.
00:06When Mike Gansey left for Philadelphia, all the Cavs did was look around the office and think,
00:11there's the guy who's ready to go, and he's former St. Vincent St. Mary basketball standout Brandon Weems.
00:18Brandon, great to have you with us.
00:19Hey, Brandon.
00:20Thank you for having me.
00:22Congratulations, by the way, and no, you don't make me feel old that I watched you play in high school.
00:28I appreciate you.
00:29I'm super excited for the season, man, and also this promotion as well.
00:34How about this opportunity for you personally before we get to the team?
00:38You've been with the organization, I think, going into your 12th season now,
00:42and you got in young, and you paid your dues, and it's paid off for you, Brandon.
00:48No, it has, but first of all, I want to give a huge shout-out and congratulations to Mike Gansey.
00:54He was a tremendous friend before I even came to Cleveland, and then working together,
01:01he was unbelievable as just a mentor and a teammate.
01:05So I wish him nothing but the best, and I just wanted to congratulate him on the air,
01:12and hopefully him and his family will be able to see it because he truly means a lot to me.
01:19But as far as this, you know, it's been a journey.
01:23You know, I just really came in and worked my way up, took my time,
01:29didn't try to rush or skip steps, and just really tried to be a good person,
01:35and it led me to where I am today.
01:38Brandon, at any point did you think this – at what point did you know you were going to go
01:42the general manager track? I mean, because you had coached before, too,
01:46and at what point did you say, okay, I like the way we're going with this,
01:50maybe rather than saying I want to be on the bench coaching?
01:53Yeah, so like you mentioned, I started out coaching.
01:57You know, I got my master's in grad school at Kentucky,
02:00and then I went to Drexel for a year to be on staff there,
02:04and then two years at Oakland University in Michigan working for Coach Campy.
02:09And then following that, I came to Cleveland 2015-2016 as a scout,
02:15and we ended up winning the championship, obviously, that year.
02:19And I'm thinking, like, oh, this is easy.
02:21Like, this is going to be, you know, every year.
02:25And obviously it doesn't work out like that.
02:27But it's just been an incredible experience.
02:30I never thought that I would be in this seat.
02:33I always just kind of put my head down and worked,
02:36and it kind of just led me down this path.
02:39Brandon Weems joining us, Cavaliers general manager.
02:42Brandon, you and Kobe Altman have put together a team that looks loaded.
02:47It looks like you have a lot of guys who should play.
02:51It looks like you have a lot of guys who should score and get shots.
02:55Good luck, Kenny Atkinson.
02:57How does he figure all that out?
02:59We're really excited about the team, obviously.
03:02We keep, you know, taking steps.
03:05And then we also made a few tweaks in the offseason to kind of complement our core group of guys.
03:11But our role in the front office is try to secure as much talent as we possibly can.
03:18And it's Kenny's job to figure it out.
03:21So, we wish him the best.
03:24We wish him the best.
03:26That's nice.
03:29For sure.
03:30How different is it going to be this year with James Harden on this team from the beginning of the
03:34season, Brandon?
03:35No, it's going to be incredible.
03:37So, James coming in, you know, past the halfway point last year, it's tough for any player, especially one of
03:46that magnitude.
03:47And so, he didn't have a whole lot of time to kind of gel and work through things.
03:53You kind of just figure everything out on the fly.
03:57But now that he's here, he's here with us.
04:00We've got a long-term extension done.
04:02You know, he's hosted player individual workouts.
04:07He's in phenomenal shape.
04:09So, you know, there's just a comfort level there, not only with his teammates and coaching staff, but also Cleveland.
04:17So, we're excited to see what it looks like.
04:20But what's the biggest takeaway you got from Mike?
04:22And obviously, he quickly became the opposition as he built the Sixers extremely quick.
04:29It's got to be kind of weird to look at him, too.
04:31It's like, man, that's competition, and he's going to beat us sometimes, and sometimes we're going to beat him.
04:35Yeah, yeah.
04:36No, we love Mike.
04:38Miss him, obviously.
04:40Just a tremendous person.
04:42Him and his entire family are incredible.
04:46But, no, like, we wish him nothing but the best.
04:49But at the same time, we're trying to beat him every single time that we play, starting October 22nd in
04:58Philadelphia.
04:59Brandon Weems joining us.
05:01Calf's general manager.
05:02A couple of new guys joining this team.
05:04Peyton Watson, who you signed as a free agent, and Mario Hazonia, who, if you think back to when he
05:10was in Orlando, was a lottery pick, an interesting player, and then went overseas.
05:15What can Calf fans expect out of those guys?
05:18Oh, man.
05:20Both of those guys are very exciting players in their own right.
05:25Where Peyton came into a winning environment where he had to kind of earn his way, he had to learn
05:32how to play winning basketball, and had to learn a role to kind of get on the floor.
05:37And once he was able to do that, he really excelled.
05:41He had a lot of success in his role.
05:44And he's 23 years old, 6'8", super long, athletic, two-way player.
05:51Could really get out and transition.
05:54He could play in the short role.
05:56So, there's this tremendous amount of upside there.
06:00And we feel like with our core group and our focus on player development, you know, we're going to just
06:06continue to see him get better and better.
06:09And then with Mario, I think he's coming here at the perfect time.
06:15You know, he was really young when he got drafted by Orlando.
06:20Things didn't work out.
06:21He went back to Europe and kind of found himself again, became an MVP, a champion, just had tremendous success.
06:30And so, now he's ready to prove himself, obviously, to the entire NBA, but also to himself.
06:38Like, he feels like he's ready.
06:40He belongs.
06:41And he's been really good this summer since we've had him.
06:45He's 6'10", over 250 pounds.
06:48Really?
06:49I think he's going to surprise a lot of people.
06:52He can punish defenders on switches.
06:56He can rebound and push the ball.
06:59His shooting has improved.
07:01And he's just a tremendous guy to have around.
07:04So, we're excited about both of those guys.
07:06I think they bring something that we've kind of been missing the last few years.
07:12Brandon, what's it like to be in a front office where it's aggressive?
07:15And, you know, I've never once heard a Dan Gilbert team say, we don't have enough money or we're not
07:20going to try to find the assets to bring or bring any player in.
07:24And how do you think that might be different from other teams?
07:28You know, just knowing that, I mean, Kobe, that you have the freedom to be aggressive and go after whatever
07:35you want.
07:35What is that like and how does that play out?
07:37Well, we're very fortunate to have Dan and Grant and the Gilbert family as ownership.
07:42Because, as you said, they're not going to spare any expenses.
07:48But also, like, they're just very passionate and really want to win and try to build a championship team.
07:56And so, for us, you know, it's not necessarily about, you know, spending, writing unlimited checks.
08:04You know, it's about trying to build the best team that we possibly can and pay him back in a
08:09way that makes him proud.
08:11Brandon Weems joining us, Cavs general manager.
08:14You have a lot of guys, as we mentioned earlier, Brandon, who score a lot of points.
08:19That's a good thing.
08:21You also got a lot of guys who got paid.
08:23Can getting paid, having those contracts lead to different roles for some of these guys?
08:30You know, Donovan can score like crazy.
08:31James Harden as well.
08:33But I know you want to see Jordan Tyson come along.
08:36Maybe more scoring out of Evan Mobley.
08:38How does that all get juggled?
08:39Yeah, that's the beauty of Coach Atkinson, man.
08:43He's incredible at utilizing the entire bench and giving guys a chance to grow and spread their wings.
08:52I mean, you think about the beginning of last year, you know, we didn't have Darius, we didn't have Max,
08:58and Jalen was able to step in and really prove, show everyone how good he is.
09:04And so, we're excited about, you know, the start of the season, the middle of the season,
09:09because Kenny's going to play everyone, and everyone's going to get a chance to grow.
09:14Brandon, congratulations on your new opportunity and the work you've already done with the Cavs.
09:19We look forward to watching you grow in the future.
09:21Thank you so much.
09:23Brandon Weems, general manager of the Cavaliers, joining us.
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