To build on an increased use of analytics and technology (highlighted by the N.B.A.’s replay center) and various transparency initiatives (most notably the league’s “Last Two Minute Reports” issued the morning after games), Silver named the longtime Deloitte LLP executive Byron Spruell as the N.B.A.’s president of league operations in June 2016. Spruell then named retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson as senior vice president and head of referee operations two months ago.

Spruell completed a six-month review of the league’s officiating program in the spring and has been working not only to revamp its management structure but also to modernize its practices for the recruitment, training, development and evaluation of referees, which began with the introduction of an officiating advisory council in March, followed by the hiring of Johnson in October.

Removing McCutchen from the league’s active pool of referees to put him in his new role, reporting to Johnson, means that the N.B.A. will immediately lose one of its perennially highest-rated officials. He has called 16 games in the N.B.A. Finals, including Game 3 of last season’s championship series, to rank fourth among active officials. But Spruell insisted that, with two-thirds of the regular season followed by two months of playoffs still to come, it was not practical to wait.

“We know it’ll be sort of a short-term hit to take one of our top referees off the floor, but we feel the longer-term benefit is great for us,” Spruell said.

The veteran referee Bob Delaney, who officiated in the league from 1987 to 2011, served as the N.B.A.’s most recent vice president for referee development and performance until his tenure ended in September. But McCutchen’s new post is larger in scope as the league departs from past practice by filling the job with an active referee as opposed to a recent retiree.