Jose Calderon’s stay with the Los Angeles Lakers barely lasted a season. His post-retirement rise has lasted much longer.
The Cleveland Cavaliers promoted Calderon to assistant general manager Thursday, moving the former NBA point guard further up an organizational ladder he began climbing after his playing career ended. Cleveland also promoted Brandon Weems to general manager, Jon Nichols to associate general manager and Brendon Yu to assistant general manager.
For Lakers fans, Calderon is a small but recognizable piece of a forgettable transitional season — a veteran guard who arrived in Los Angeles in 2016 and was gone before the year was over.
Now he is helping shape one of the Eastern Conference’s more ambitious front offices.
Jose Calderon’s Lakers Stint Was Brief
The Lakers acquired Calderon from Chicago in July 2016 as part of the deal that also brought two second-round picks to Los Angeles.
He played just 24 games for the Lakers, starting 11, and averaged 3.3 points, 2.1 assists and 1.7 rebounds before the organization waived him in February 2017.
His tenure overlapped with a franchise in transition.
Luke Walton was in his first season as coach. The roster still revolved around a young core that included Brandon Ingram, D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. In February, Magic Johnson took control of basketball operations as the Lakers dismissed Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss.
Calderon became one of the veterans squeezed out as Los Angeles began clearing the way for its next phase.
He later signed with Atlanta, then Cleveland, where he helped lead the Cavaliers to the 2018 NBA Finals.
Calderon Built Second Career in Front Office
After retiring following the 2018-19 season, Calderon took a different path from many former players.
He joined the National Basketball Players Association as special assistant to the executive director, working with union leadership on strategy and player issues. Cleveland brought him back in 2022 as a special adviser to the front office.
Four years later, that apprenticeship has turned into a formal assistant GM title.
The Cavaliers said Calderon has been involved in a range of front-office initiatives, including Cleveland’s 2026 training camp in Andalusia, Spain. His promotion places him alongside executives with responsibilities in roster construction, player evaluation and long-term planning.
There is also an interesting Lakers parallel.
Los Angeles has spent this offseason expanding its own basketball operations department, adding two assistant general managers and investing more heavily in analytics, scouting and player development.
Calderon’s career offers a reminder of how many former players now populate that side of the league.
As a player, he was known for control, efficiency and understanding where the next pass should go.
In Los Angeles, that skill set had only a short window to matter.
In Cleveland, it has become the foundation of a second career.
Former Lakers Guard Completes Remarkable Rise to Cavaliers Assistant GM