Cavs choose Brown for head coach

AKRON, Ohio – The Cavaliers have decided to make Indiana Pacers associate head coach Mike Brown their next coach.

Multiple NBA executives confirmed Saturday that the Cavaliers have chosen Brown, and the sides were in contract talks. Barring any holdup, he could be introduced at a news conference this week.

Two officials with knowledge of the situation said the Cavaliers will offer its president of basketball operations position to Detroit Pistons head coach Larry Brown at the conclusion of the Pistons’ playoff run.

If Larry Brown gets out of his contract in Detroit and accepts the job, Washington Wizards director of player personnel Milt Newton is expected to become the leading candidate to become the team’s next general manager.

If Larry Brown doesn’t take the job, the general manager position will likely go to Pacers executive David Morway, who has been a top candidate for weeks. It isn’t believed that Morway will be hired if Larry Brown comes on board.

The Cavaliers had no comment Saturday.

A person close to LeBron James said the Cavaliers’ star thinks highly of Mike Brown and his reputation for being a defensive coach.

Winner of an NBA championship ring in 2003 as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs and Pacers coach Rick Carlisle’s top assistant the past two seasons, Mike Brown fits Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert’s requirement that his next coach come from a “highly successful organization.”

Mike Brown, 35, would become the second-youngest head coach in the NBA.