Cavaliers Decide to Fire GM Paxson

Jim Paxson was fired Thursday as general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose stunning second-half collapse this season cost them their first trip to the NBA playoffs in seven years.

Paxson’s dismissal had been expected for weeks and came exactly one month after Paul Silas was fired as coach by owner Dan Gilbert, who has had a tumultuous first 50 days running the franchise.

The Cavaliers were 31-21 on Feb. 25, and 34-30 when Silas was fired. But the team fell apart down the stretch despite the play of LeBron James and finished 42-40, losing a tiebreaker with New Jersey for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Gilbert, who took over as principal owner from Gordon Gund on March 1, said he released Paxson with two years and $2 million left on his contract because he said change was necessary.

Gilbert also said interim Coach Brendan Malone, who was 8-10 after taking over for Silas, would not be a candidate to be the next coach. Malone will remain with the organization.

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Regular-season attendance averaged 17,314 this season, the highest in league history. Total attendance of nearly 21.3 million topped the previous mark of more than 20.5 million set during the 1995-96 season, the league announced.

Excluding the addition of the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, NBA games still drew more than 432,500 fans this season than last season. The average attendance mark exceeded the 1995-96 record of 17,252 and last season’s average of 17,050.