Silas, Cavaliers Make a Deal

Paul Silas will be the new coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers after reaching agreement with the team on a long-term contract, Associated Press learned Sunday.

The deal was being completed late Sunday, according to two sources with knowledge of the talks who spoke to AP.

Silas beat out former New York Knick coach Jeff Van Gundy, who had several discussions with Cavalier owner Gordon Gund and General Manager Jim Paxson about the possibility of becoming LeBron James’ first pro coach.

The Cavaliers have the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft and have said they will select James, the 18-year-old high school phenom from Akron.

“They decided, and they got a great guy. I’m fine with it,” Van Gundy said.

Silas was let go by the New Orleans Hornets after the postseason following his fifth season with the team. He was a candidate for several other coaching vacancies around the league.

The Cavaliers have scheduled a news conference for 1:30 p.m. PDT today.

Silas, who turns 60 in July, was 208-155 with the Hornets, taking them to the playoffs each of the last four seasons.

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Despite earlier reports, the Philadelphia 76ers still have not received permission from the Portland Trail Blazers to talk to Maurice Cheeks about their vacant head coaching job, team President Billy King said.

The Trail Blazers on Wednesday turned down Philadelphia’s request to speak to Cheeks as a possible replacement for Larry Brown.

“Portland denied permission. That’s where it is,” King said.

On Saturday after Detroit fired coach Rick Carlisle, a basketball source speaking to AP said Portland had given permission to the 76ers to speak to Cheeks.

Subsequent reporting determined that information to be inaccurate.

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A free agent after an 18-year career with the Utah Jazz, Karl Malone told The Dallas Morning News that the Mavericks are one of the leading contenders for his services next season, saying, “[The Mavericks] definitely are high on the list and I don’t have a very long list, either.”

Malone turns 40 in July. He has 36,374 points, and needs 2,014 to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

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NBA Finals

SAN ANTONIO VS. NEW JERSEY

Best-of-seven series

Wednesday...at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m.

Friday...at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m.

Sunday...at New Jersey, 5:30 p.m.

June 11...at New Jersey, 5:30 p.m.

June 13...at New Jersey, 5:30 p.m.*

June 15...at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m.*

June 18...at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m.*

*if necessary All times PDT