“Ever since the surgery, everything is going great,” Noel said. “I’m 100 percent confident, not just getting back to what I was, but stronger. Going through this time not playing basketball, I’ll just be working on things I need to polish. It will improve me in the long run.”

Noel injured his knee in February, but postponed the surgery for a month to let the swelling subside. Noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews repaired the tear in early March and Noel has temporarily moved to Alabama to rehab at Andrews’ facility. He began shooting free throws last week, but still hasn’t run on a court since the injury.

Noel’s knee injury is indicative of a weak draft class that has left teams scrambling for talent. One league executive in attendance at Thursday’s workouts said, as strange as it sounds, this might be the year teams don’t want the top pick.

“You might be better off picking third or fourth and just taking whoever falls to you,” he said. “To have the No. 1 pick in this draft? Boy, I don’t know. It’s a risk.”

Noel was averaging 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Kentucky Wildcats prior to the injury. He said he measured at 6-foot-11 3/4 at the combine, but also has a 7-4 wingspan. He is incredibly athletic, but limited offensively.

The Cavs are slotted to draft third, but they would have no trouble selecting Noel should they get lucky and win the lottery for the second time in three years. They never hesitated drafting Kyrie Irving No. 1 overall two years ago after his collegiate career was limited to just 11 games following a toe injury and they wouldn’t hesitate selecting Noel.

Thomas said teams asked him plenty of difficult and interesting questions during his interview process at the combine. But the most interesting, he said, was the fact the Spurs’ first question was for his cell phone number and his e-mail address. He gave them the e-mail, but not the phone number.

“I can’t go around giving it out to everyone,” Thomas said Thursday with a laugh. “Now if they want to draft me, I’d be happy to give it to them.”

Thomas is projected as a second-round pick, although he’s still hopeful he can sneak into the first round. He departed Ohio State after averaging 19.8 points and 5.9 assists during his junior year to lead the Big Ten in scoring.

Thomas returned to Indiana after the NCAA tournament and has been working on getting in better shape. He said he trimmed his body fat from “11 or 12 percent down to 8.5 or 9.”

“I believe I can be that late first round pick,” Thomas said. “I have confidence. But all I’ve got to do is keep working. As long as I can feel like when I walk out of that gym that I worked hard, I’ll leave it in God’s hands and everything will take care of itself.”

Thomas has been joined in his workouts by Greg Oden, who is attempting a comeback to the NBA next season.

“He looks unbelievable,” Thomas said. “He’s running, lifting weights. You might be seeing a comeback. He looks like he’s ready to go. For a big 7-footer, that’s all he does, running and getting in shape. He’s looking right.”

That’s mildly surprising, but it doesn’t mean the Cavaliers aren’t interested in the small forward from Georgetown.

“That’s interesting,” Porter said, referring to the omission of the Cavaliers from his itinerary. “I guess in talking to my agent (David Falk), maybe that’s a good thing and maybe it’s bad. We don’t know yet.”

Teams submit three lists of players they’d like to speak with during this week’s combine – an “A” list, “B” list and a “C” list. Team executives, however, aren’t guaranteed to meet with all the players on their lists – even those on the “A” list. Porter was on the Cavs’ submitted list, a source confirmed.

The Cavs still have plenty of time to talk with Porter when they presumably bring him to Cleveland Clinic Courts for a private workout. Those haven’t been scheduled yet. The Cavs typically put more of an emphasis on the interview process than most teams, although they took Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller last summer without working out or speaking to either one.
Waiters made himself unavailable because his agent pulled him from the draft process. The Cavs didn’t talk to Zeller because they didn’t think they’d be in position to take him.

Porter was named the Big East Player of the Year and plays the one position the Cavs haven’t addressed in the first round of this rebuild. He averaged 16.2 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Hoyas, leading Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim to declare Porter the best small forward in Big East history. 

Porter made it clear he’d like to play for the Cavs and his agent, David Falk, reassured him that just because the two sides won’t meet in Chicago doesn’t mean there isn’t a future between the pair.

“I had a long talk with my agent,” Porter said. “He told me if (the Cavs) wanted to, that could be a great possibility.”

Waiters received 21 first-team votes and eight second-team votes, while Zeller received three first-team votes and nine second-team votes. 

Waiters averaged 14.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.0 assista and a steal in 28.8 minutes per game. He ranked second in scoring among rookies, fourth in assists and fourth in steals. He was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for February.

Zeller averaged 7.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks. He led all rookies (minimum 70 games) in offensive rebounds (2.1), ranked second in defensive rebounds (3.6), second in blocks and seventh in scoring. 

Handy is known as a tireless worker who was introduced to Brown through an old connection. According to a recent story on the Lakers' website, St. Mary's College coach Randy Bennett introduced the two. Bennett was an assistant coach at University of San Diego when both Brown and Cavs general manager Chris Grant were students there.

The Cavs presumably have two spots to fill on their coaching staff. They released Paul Pressey and Joe Prunty from former coach Mike Brown's staff, but have retained Jamahl Mosley and Nate Tibbetts. 

Handy played professionally for 13 seasons, including a brief stint in the NBA and eight years in Europe. 

Mike Brown on if he ever thought he'd return to Cleveland: 

Dan Gilbert on if firing Brown was a mistake: 

"Yeah, it was a mistake," Gilbert said Wednesday at Brown's reintroductory news conference. "When you get the benefit of hindsight, it was a mistake. We're very happy that we get to rectify any position we took back then by Mike being available right now."

What was supposed to be a 90-minute reacquaintance dinner meeting Sunday night between Brown, general manager Chris Grant and Cavs ownership lasted 6 1/2 hours. Three days later, Brown was introduced as the new coach. He was fired just three years ago after the Cavs were eliminated in the Eastern Conferrence semifinals. Six weeks after he was fired, LeBron James left as a free agent.

"That summer we went through three years ago, that was a unique time for us as a franchise," Gilbert said. "There was a lot of uncertainty on all levels."

Gilbert said Brown fits what the Cavaliers need perfectly.

"Mike Brown and what he brings is exactly what this franchise needs right now," Gilbert said. "We need an authentic, hard working grinder who is a defensive first coach who is engaged at all levels at all times. This guy lives, breathes and sleeps basketball."

Here are his Twitter posts from this morning:

Welcome back Mike Brown, the only NBA coach in history(4 yrs or longer)who won the 1st round of the playoffs every full-year of his career.

— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) April 24, 2013

Mike Brown, is back in town: The coach with the 6th highest winning percentage in NBA history(4 yrs or longer).

— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) April 24, 2013

Brown,the Coach: He & Phil are the only NBA coaches(5-years or longer)whom have never missed the playoffs in their entire coachingcareer.

— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) April 24, 2013

During Mike’s 6 years w/Cavs & Lakers, Brown had 2nd highest winning pct. (.657%) among all NBA coaches who were at helm 4-years or longer

— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) April 24, 2013

Mike Brown: Only 43 years old. Man is not even near his peak as an NBA coach.

— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) April 24, 2013

Not "selling" boys and girls.Just providing facts.You decide.Let's see how things roll next year and beyond.How many days until opening tip?

— Dan Gilbert (@cavsdan) April 24, 2013

* The Cavs front office isn't going to spend a lot of time today dwelling on three years ago, but Dan Gilbert will inevitably be asked about the decision to fire Brown and now bring him back. And Gilbert, in so many words, is expected to admit firing Brown three years ago was a mistake. A series of decisions culiminated in the Cavs feeling forced to fire Brown to appease LeBron James. It didn't work out so well.

* This is the right move by the Cavs. I think I made that perfectly clear a few days ago. Brown was the best candidate on the market this offseason and the Cavs moved quickly to hire him.

* I don’t want to turn this into a bash session on Byron Scott. I was a staunch defender of Scott’s up until the end. I don’t think he was given a fair chance to succeed here. I thought he deserved the opportunity to return next season … right up until the final couple weeks, when it became clear something had gone drastically wrong. Regardless of what they say now, the players stopped playing for him. Something had to change.

* If nothing else, Brown will demand this team defend. And that’s what owner Dan Gilbert wanted. No one will admit this, but I think Gilbert has had his eye on Brown for a while now. Gilbert has always liked Brown and never wanted to fire him in the first place. It was all an attempt to keep LeBron James here.

* Speaking of James, I haven’t spoken to anyone in his inner circle about this. From a couple of ESPN reports, it sounds as if Brown’s return wouldn’t hinder James from coming back to Cleveland. I have no idea if James will ever return to play here. I’ve always thought it was a possibility and that he would give Cleveland a long look next summer. I still believe that. 

* If anything, the Mike Brown hiring signals that the Cavs are committed to doing what they believe is best right now and not worrying about next summer. They made the mistake once before of guessing what James wanted, then based their coaching decision off of it. Look where it got them. 

* This is not the same team Brown previously coached. Anderson Varejao will likely be the only holdover by the time the players reconvene, so it’s not as if any of these guys have heard Brown’s message before and will automatically tune it out.

* Let’s be clear about something, and I’ll write more about this later. The playing for draft picks is over. Gilbert believes the Cavs can make the playoffs next season. If this team can defend better and stay healthy, he might be right. Either way, the Cavs are playing to win again. The playoffs are the goal for next season. 

"I am thrilled to return to Cleveland to coach the Cavaliers," Brown said in the release. "The commitment ownership and management have shown in their efforts to build a successful team and organization is deep and I am excited to lead the team forward. Nothing would mean more to me and my family than to help bring success to this very special community and to all of our committed and loyal fans."

From owner Dan Gilbert: "I am more than excited about Mike Brown’s return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mike has done nothing but win in this league since he was a first-year assistant many years ago. He is going to instill a much-needed defensive-first philosophy in our young and talented team that is going to serve as our foundation and identity as we continue down the path of building the kind of franchise that competes at a championship level for many years to come."

From GM Chris Grant: "Mike is an excellent head coach and a proven winner. He has a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed as a team and that will be integral to helping us reach our full potential. We are fortunate to have Mike back and I look forward to him leading our team to a very successful future.”

Van Gundy has 371 career victories, a .641 career winning percentage and has never had a losing season in eight years as a coach. He is high on the Cavs' list of replacements for Byron Scott, but that may not matter anymore. 

"The Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavs and Philadelphia 76ers are looking for coaches -- three more possibilities for former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy," longtime NBA writer Brian Schmitz wrote in today's Sentinel. "I'm told that Van Gundy has no interest in those openings at this time."

Van Gundy is in Montreal this weekend for a coaching clinic. The Beacon Journal tried contacting Van Gundy yesterday and today, but a cell phone listed as his was turned off and is not accepting voicemail.

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have released Head Coach Byron Scott, the team announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts. The announcement was made by Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant.

“I have tremendous respect for Byron professionally and a great deal of admiration for him personally. At the same time, it is critical for where we are as a team to ensure that we capitalize on every opportunity for development and success and we have fallen short of that on the court,” said Grant. “I believe we needed to make this change in order to get to a better position to achieve our goals. I know I speak on behalf of the entire Cavs organization and the Cleveland community, in thanking Byron for his three years here and his hard work and many contributions on and off the court. We wish Bryon and his wife, Anita, the best.”

Scott, 52, was named the 18th head coach in Cleveland Cavaliers history on July 1, 2010. The Cavaliers’ record during Scott’s tenure as Head Coach was 64-166.

“I want to thank Chris Grant, Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers organization for the opportunity I had to coach this team the last three seasons,” said Scott. “Anita and I have enjoyed our time here in Cleveland and greatly appreciate the support we received from this special community and the many friendships we developed. I am certainly proud of the progress that many of our players have made and greatly appreciate the dedication of my coaches and our team in our efforts to attain the success we all desired.”

The Cavaliers will immediately commence a search, led by General Manager Chris Grant, for the team’s next head coach.

"I wish Byron Scott and his entire family the best going forward. Byron is a class guy, both on and off the court, and I thank him for his three years of coaching the Cavaliers,” said Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert. 

“I fully support the difficult move that was made today. Although we saw progress with young individual player development, we did not see the kind of progress we expected on the team level this past season. We understand it was challenging with the injuries, but when you are at our stage in the building process, you don't only measure team progress in wins and losses.

It has been our strong and stated belief that when our team once again returns to competing at the NBA's highest levels it will be because we have achieved our goals on the defensive side of the court.

Our fans have been incredibly loyal and supportive during these transition years. They deserve better than we have been delivering as of late and it is our full intent to deliver them the kind of competitive team that they expect to see on the court beginning next season,” Gilbert concluded. 

Irving used it five times in less than four minutes prior to the game while describing this season. Scott used “frustrated” to summarize both this season and his three years in Cleveland – then he grew visibly frustrated with reporters for the first time all season when an out-of-town media member repeated the identical question for Scott to answer a second time.

The Cavs’ 105-98 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday provided closure to a turbulent few weeks for Scott. Now he becomes the focus because his future should be decided today. A high-ranking team official said on Monday that a decision on Scott will be announced at today’s season-ending press conference. He has one year left on his contract, but isn’t expected to return.

“Frustrating, more than anything,” Scott said when asked to summarize his three years in Cleveland. “We just haven’t had our whole complement of players. It’s still a growing process. I think our guys are still getting better. Hopefully next year we’ll be healthy. That’s one of my biggest wishes – that we’re just healthy.”

When his tenure in New Orleans was ending, he knew it. Scott was on the phone with his wife while sitting on the team plane following a loss at Phoenix. He told her he thought he was going to get fired, even though the season was just nine games old. The next morning, he was.

His ending in New Jersey was so bitter, that one didn’t surprise him, either.

This time, he says it’s different. He doesn’t have that same feeling of impending doom that he did in both New Orleans and New Jersey. He still talks with folks in the organization about plans for this summer and the upcoming draft. He doesn’t feel as if it’s over despite a 64-166 record that everyone with the franchise readily admits isn’t all his fault.

“I’ve got a year on my contract,” Scott said. “Unless they tell me otherwise, I’ll be back.”

The final game of the season, and perhaps the final game of Scott’s tenure in Cleveland, ended like so many before it – a fast start and a 20-point lead, followed by a furious comeback.

The only difference was the Cavs were the team making the huge rally, but it didn’t last. They ended the season by losing 16 of their last 18 and their last six in a row.

The Bobcats shot 72 percent in the first quarter and took a 34-16 lead into the second, then extended it to 46-22 with 7:24 left in the first half. The Cavs know all about 20-point leads, since they’ve given away four of them this season.

This time they were on the other end and did their best to fight back. A driving layup from Dion Waiters gave them a brief 77-76 lead with 9:30 left in the game, but the Bobcats scored the game’s next seven points and held on for the victory.

Kyrie Irving had 24 points and 10 assists, Dion Waiters had 16 points off the bench (14 in the fourth quarter) and Tristan Thompson had eight points and nine rebounds.

“We’ve proven throughout the season we can play with any team in this league and we’ve beaten a lot of good teams in this league as well,” Irving said. “Next season we want to limit the mistakes we made this season. We’re not going to win a lot of games if we continue to be the last-place team in the NBA in defensive field-goal percentage. There’s a lot of things we have to correct and this summer is a big summer for all of us.”

The loss clinched the third-worst record in the NBA this season and by extension no worse than the sixth overall pick in the draft.

The most important development, however, was the Memphis Grizzlies’ victory over the Utah Jazz, clinching a playoff berth for the Los Angeles Lakers and an improved draft position for the Cavaliers’ second pick in the first round

The Cavs will swap the Miami Heat’s pick at the bottom of the first round, which they own as compensation from the LeBron James trade, with the Lakers’ selection. It’s a swap right they negotiated last season when they traded Ramon Sessions to the Lakers, only no one knew at the time how valuable it would be. The difference between the Heat’s pick and the Lakers’ pick, depending on final playoff seeding, is about 15 draft spots.

“Just keep the season in mind,” Irving said when asked what he’ll tell his teammates tomorrow before they depart for the summer. “The ups and downs that we had, what we can do individually to make this team better, then we’ll come back collectively in September and come back a better ball club. That’s the main goal. Just continually get better.”

Kyrie Irving apologized to fans through his Twitter account Tuesday morning, presumably for skipping the Fan Appreciation Night festivities following Monday's 96-95 loss to the Miami Heat. 

I want to personally apologize to all the Cavs fans for my actions yesterday, it was truly unfair to you guys, Im very appreciative for all

— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) April 16, 2013

Of you guys, your love and passion for the organization and city is what pushes me to be great,

— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) April 16, 2013

All Cavs players were exxpected to stick around on the court after the game to give selected fans their game-worn jerseys and shoes. But Irving sprinted off the court immediately after he was stripped of the ball on the game's final play, preventing him the chance at a game-winning shot. 

It was announced in the locker room that Irving had a bruised heel, but Irving disputed that and said he was fine. He said he ran off the court, however, so the training staff could check his foot. 

Irving's quick departure forced a Cavs staff member to quickly run into the locker room, grab an Irving jersey and pair of shoes.

But Irving’s peculiar behavior after the game quickly became just as interesting as another loss in a season filled with them. While the rest of the players lined up to hand selected fans their jerseys and shoes as part of Fan Appreciation Night, Irving immediately sprinted off the court at the buzzer and into the locker room. Irving’s quick exit left a staff member to scramble back to the locker room and gather a jersey and pair of Irving’s shoes to be handed out by someone else.

Coach Byron Scott said he thought Irving was injured on the game’s final play and a team spokesman announced in the locker room just prior to Irving meeting with reporters that he had suffered a bruised right heel. Irving acted surprised upon hearing that.

“That’s what I have? Oh, when was someone going to tell me that?” Irving said. “I’m hurt again? Damn. How long am I going to be out, 4 to 6 weeks?”

Asked when he was injured, Irving said he was fine.

“They said I have a bruised heel, but I’m fine,” he said. “I felt it in the first half. Felt something in my heel, but I’m OK.”

He was healthy enough to play 36 minutes, but he couldn’t stick around five more to participate in the festivities celebrating the home finale. Asked why he ran off the court so quickly rather than stick around to hand out his shirt and shoes with everyone else, Irving said he wanted the medical staff to check out his foot.

In an exhausting season filled with collapses and unexpected twists, this was simply one more for the memory book.

The Cavs had a chance to win the game at the buzzer when Irving received the inbounds pass with 13.9 seconds left and dribbled toward the left side of the lane. But when he spun left and started to go up for a shot, Cole – previously a Defensive Player of the Year in the Horizon League – stuck his hand in and cleanly knocked the ball out before Irving could get a shot up.

Cole had 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, falling one assist shy of his first career triple-double. The Cleveland State product missed two free throws with 13.9 seconds left, which allowed the Cavs to call a timeout and give Irving the chance to win it at the buzzer. But he made up for the missed free throws with the game’s biggest defensive play.

“We had our chance,” coach Byron Scott said. “Norris Cole just made a great play.”

The Heat were playing without their Big Three, including LeBron James, who made the trip but did not dress. They didn’t need James, Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade to beat  Cavs team that stumbled to a final record of 14-27 at home.

Irving had 16 points and 8 assists. He shot just 3 of 12 through the first three quarters, but shot 4 of 7 and scored nine points in the fourth. But it was the final shot that stung the most.

“He made a good defensive play,” Irving said. “I had space. I spun off and had some space to shoot a pull-up jump shot, but I took one extra dribble trying to get him off-balance. But his hand was there and it was a good defensive play.”

It’s debatable what was hurting Irving more at that moment – his heel or his ego. It harkens back to what Scott said prior to the game when asked if Irving has the capability of being a leader.

“I see it at times. Over the course of a long season, it comes and goes,” Scott said. “That’s where youth comes in. I think he definitely has it. It has to come out six, seven straight months. You can’t take a day off.”

Now the microscope on Scott will continue to sharpen over the next couple of days. The Cavs conclude the season Wednesday at the Charlotte Bobcats, after which time Scott’s ultimate fate will be decided.

An almost defiant Scott said after the game he intended to be back next season.

“I am going to be back to coach them next year,” Scott said.

Asked if he had been reassured of that, Scott said, “I’ve got a year left on my contract, that’s how I figure it, unless I’m told differently. But that’s how I approach it.”