Updated: Chris Grant fired as GM of Cavaliers
2014-02-06
Multiple media outlets have reported that according to “league sources,” Dan Gilbert has fired Chris Grant as the General Manager of the Cavs. Andrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo.com comments, here.
Gilbert had grown increasingly frustrated with the losing and dysfunction within the Cavaliers and the loss to the Lakers – who finished the game with four eligible players – was the breaking point…
The Plain Dealer counters, that the Cavaliers have yet to confirm the firing. We will update as news filters in.
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Update (2:06pm): Team sources confirm that Grant has been fired and assistant GM David Griffin has been promoted to Acting General Manager. https://twitter.com/PDcavsinsider/status/431503723618390016
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Update (2:24pm): Cavs release statements from Dan Gilbert. Some of the statements have been reprinted below.
This has been a very difficult period for the franchise. We have severely underperformed against expectations. Just as this is completely unacceptable to our loyal and passionate fan base, season ticket holders and corporate partners, it is also just as unacceptable to our ownership group. I can assure everyone who supports and cares about the Cleveland Cavaliers that we will continue to turn over every stone and explore every possible opportunity for improvement to shift the momentum of our franchise in the right direction. There is no one in our entire organization who is satisfied with our performance, and to say that we are disappointed is an understatement. We all know the great potential of our young talent, seasoned veterans, as well as our recent all-star addition. We believe a change in leadership was necessary to establish the best possible culture and environment for our entire team to flourish.
There is no move, nor any amount of capital investment, we will not make if we believe it will improve our chances of competing and winning in this league for both the short and long term. The fans of this great city have invested too much time, money and effort for the kind of product we have recently delivered to them. This must change.
Also, Jason Lloyd gives us statements from Chris Grant.
My entire focus the past eight years has been on trying to build a team that can contend and win and provide Cleveland fans the success that they deserve… I have a tremendous appreciation for the players that are here and the coaches that I have worked with, as well as our front office. I thank them for all of their dedication and commitment to the Cavaliers.
NBA landscape, our draftees need a tie to the organization. I think by reaching on picks and trawling the waiver wire and D league he tried to build the same roster of guys with chips on their shoulders that the Seahawks have. Can’t blame him for thinking outside the box. TOP TIER PLAYERS WILL NEVER SIGN HERE. I would bet my 401K the great players Kyrie mingles with at All Star and Olympic functions are telling him just that. Overall, I think most of the reasons the fanbase can come up with for the struggles are meaningless. Wins change everything.… Read more »
Another year of tanking was a BAD IDEA. We’ve already seen what a bunch of losing and lack of accountability does to a young team. We’re seeing it right now as the players quit on Mike Brown. He is the problem.
Grant’s drafts were questionable; but his job was to assemble talent and for the most part he succeeded. He can’t force them to play hard. If he thought Mike Brown was the guy who could, then I’m glad he got dismissed.
@ksd
I actually liked Grant’s drafting and “weird hipster picks” is probably the most accurate description of Grant’s drafting I’ve heard yet.
Firing Grant really doesn’t do anything to fix the locker room mess, which is the primary problem. There are plenty of teams in the league that have pieces that don’t fit perfectly. Most give more effort than Cleveland. The expectations for their season were being a playoff team or close to it. Shit the Vegas over/under for them was 39.5, so it’s not just a matter that we overrate our own players. Taking the next step towards the playoffs was damn near universal. Grant’s biggest sin was compiling a team of redundant talents. After drafting Kyrie his goal should have… Read more »
Cory Hughey – great point that even observers invested only in being right (vegas oddsmaker) had the Cavs as a much better team than they are. And really, they probably factored in the injury-prone nature of Varejao and Irving and those two have missed very few games. Grant’s approach, i think, has been to assemble as much talent as possible, see what sticks, see what doesn’t, and then plug in the gaps with FA/trades. He may have made some poor choices, especially regarding how pieces fit, but I can’t shake the feeling that he did mostly good things and has… Read more »
@T You make a lot of good points. The expectations for this roster were at the very least a stretch given the lack of cohesion that we saw last year. And considering that we added parts that didn’t necessarily fit (a gunning PG and a center with knee issues along with a first overall who was clearly unprepared); it’s a wonder that expectations were so high especially given that the most glaring weakness of this roster, SF, was never dealt with until Deng came. @Paulie Carbone That goes back to how fans tend to overrate their own players. I hate… Read more »
Gilbert was delusional. And choosing to focus on the playoffs this year when finally there’s a god draft on the horizon was the worst possible timing. No one we have would be a top three pick this year, and no one besides Kyrie would be in the top ten.
Dan gilbert is an idiot. The comic sans letter, the laughably childish guarantee, the inability to build even a semi close relationship with Lebron, the ridiculous rebuild expectations.
Can someone please detail the many organizations who have blown a team up and started from scratch, and been a playoff contender in 1.5 seasons? I’d really like to know what precedence Cavs fans are drawing from…besides the Thunder, the first team in NBA history to select three straight All NBA lottery picks.
Trying to win now when they never had the talent is the root problem. We lost a year in the rebuild taking Anthony Bennett. We need to tank another year.
What was reason they used for firing Scott and yet Brown still is here. Dan should fire himself. Anyone who bought a ticket or paid for sports channel to watch the cavs deserves money back.
I just checked Cavs.com. Picture of DG sporting a fashionable short beard. I hope he is not having a mid life crisis.
I think Sam Vecenie does a better job of detailing CG failures than Zach Lowe. ZL’s key point, “You can’t have four …” is unrealistic because there was nothing better that could have been done. We could obviously debate what is and is not a “reach”. ZL and Nate consider TT and DW a reach. I doubt if CG would have made an insane trade to save his job (although if he wanted to, plenty were recently suggested in CtB). Why would he? He gets paid anyway. A bad trade would only hurt his chances of getting another job. Anyway,… Read more »
Long live Chris Grant. We Cavs fans will always remember the crafty trades, the high hopes, and the 26-game losing streak. Also, this man traded Mo Williams, for which he certainly has my appreciation.
@Nate Smith
I agree with both of your comments 100%.
And the most worrisome thing about Grant right now was that there was significant potential that he would have made an insane trade before the deadline in 2 weeks to try to save his job…
That was the most worrisome thing at the moment.
Wow. Zach Lowe nails it… The bottom line is this: You can’t have four consecutive top-four picks, use two on big men, and come away with just one player, Kyrie Irving, who is a lock to be an above-average NBA rotation guy. You can’t spend three first-round picks on big men, including two of those top-four picks, and end up with precisely zero bigs who look like they could be starters on championship-level NBA teams… So, what should Cleveland do now? There will be noise about trading Irving, but I wouldn’t go there. Irving still has star potential, and all… Read more »
@Dustinello IMHO – in a situation like this there is a lot of blame to go around. I don’t think it’s quite as black and white as it is appearing to you. These are NBA level – some Allstar level players – they have exerted untold effort into their craft to be at the level of play that they are at. They need to be put into reliable, sensible, proven systems and frameworks to succeed. When a leak is made public (as much as Luol denies it – I tend to believe most of it) that Luol is shocked at… Read more »
It is not Grant’s fault there was no one to draft the last three years. The only blunders are JJ and (to a lesser degree) EC. Those almost surely were because Gilbert want to win this year. That plan was obviously doomed, and led to the current mess. Someone (zeek?) asked why winning was a crazy plan: Here is why: 1. They simply do not have the horses. Maybe in two years these guys might be a strong core. Surely not now. 2. Best draft ever coming up. The no brainer thing to have done this season was to NOT… Read more »
Fearthesword has an awesome write up on Grants History, there should be no surprise on why he was fired after reading this sad history.
http://www.fearthesword.com/2014/2/5/5365782/cavaliers-2013-14-has-chris-grants-tenure-been-a-failure
Yes, Grant worked hard, and yes, I empathize with him greatly. It cannot be fun watching something you put together fall apart, and then being fired for a lack of effort beyond your control. However, every single GM in the NBA knows he has been hired to some day be fired — every single one. Donnie Walsh did everything James Dolan asked him to do, and was still canned. Rich Cho survived barely a year for the capricious Paul Allen. Furthermore, they are compensated for the temporal nature of their position. Larry Bird and Pat Riley might be the lone… Read more »
@Dunstinello
That’s a fair argument.
I think a lot of people “expect” too much from Kyrie. But at the same time, he’s clearly taken a step backwards as a leader and even as a player this year.
Ditto for virtually everyone else except TZ…; clearly the coaching change has shaken things up, but this is also on the players.
If the players are getting flat out embarrassed by a Laker’s D-League squad, then that’s on the players to show some pride, especially at home.
I’ve been anticipating a comic sans letter from Gilbert for a week. The utter lack of cohesiveness and effort by the team has to chap Gilbert’s ass as much as The Decision did. There are three options now: Stand pat and let the season play out and let the new GM evaluate what to keep and what to keep and what to get rid of. We have no idea how close Gilbert and Griffin might be and what kind of shot Griffin actually has of being the longterm GM. If he’s the guy, and is given autonomy than he’s probably… Read more »
Mallory Factor: Yes, I want to tank again, and no, planned losing was not a bad idea. Part of it was just that the drafts the last 2 years just happened to be weak, and part of it was Chris Grant’s strange personal mission to buck conventional wisdom whenever he got the chance. Next year’s draft is, as I’m sure you know, extremely deep, and we no longer have Grant to mess it up with weird hipster picks. I’m not even pretending like this is a high probability strategy, by the way. We are a small market in a city… Read more »
@Not….sure
From Chad Ford, prior to NBA draft:
“Brown made visits with his son (a potential UNLV recruit) to watch the Running Rebels play. Brown fell in love with Bennett and wants to coach him.”
+20 for the Fargo reference, Alec.
“I get the feeling that it was just a madhouse at the Q, and/or Cleveland Clinics courts this morning. The security guards were probably chasing Chris Grant in his underwear to the Benny Hill theme, while he tried to phone in one last trade…”
Like Jerry Lundegaard at the end of Fargo…
@Grover
Wasn’t that Delly?
@Rodney Mac-
Don’t forget- Brown “discoved” Gum Drop Bear through his son.
@Aaron Think about it this way: the league higher ups are always in the know about major personnel matters (gm/coach status or player trades); that’s why Woj/Windhorst/etc. break the news. They have access to the league higher ups. The only way a beat writer would catch wind is if he somehow has a reason to ask Grant whether he’s being fired or not or to ask the Cavaliers themselves. The only people who hear of these things first are higher ups across the league because they have to deal with the personnel changes as they pertain to trade consummation and… Read more »
@zeek the beat writes are will the team day-in, day-out. They should be the first to catch wind of these happenings. Not Windhorst in Miami.
@Raoul
How was it an “insane” plan to try to win this year?
If you’re Gilbert and you’ve got two #1 overalls (including an All-Star in Kyrie), two #4 overalls, and you’ve got Jack and Bynum coming in along with a coach who’s had some notable success in Mike Brown, then naturally you think you have the makings of a playoff team in a down Eastern Conference.
Trying to outright tank this season would have been preposterous at the beginning…
I disagree. Since Grant lobbied for Brown, I get the feeling Grant and Brown were tied at the hip. I believe that Brown probably lobbied for personnel, what coach wouldn’t. But that would have been directed to Grant, no Gilbert. I just don’t see Gilbert being all that engaged in the team, he just signs the checks and wants a winner.
http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/a-longtime-friendship-between-mike-brown-chris-grant-brings-together-men-in-charge-of-cavaliers-1.440973
These guys (Grant and Brown) are buddy buddy’s.
@Rodney Mac
The one thing that screams “all Grant” about the Bynum signing was the way the contract was structured as natural trade bait.
The more savvy NBA commentators pointed that out immediately when the contract was formed (although the typical folks that don’t understand NBA contracts all said stupid nonsense like “lol Cavs just gave Bynum $12 million)…
@Aaron I think it was you asking about how Woj/Windhorst/etc. break these stories first over the local beat writers? It’s because these stories are broken by the NBA league sources (i.e. guys who work at NBA hq in NYC or higher up guys across the league). Those guys always have a line to Woj/Windhorst if there’s major news in the NBA. Those guys always find out ASAP when a major person gets fired (GM/coach-level firing) or when a trade is consummated (since trades have to go through the league office and league sources usually get details of those kind of… Read more »
Grover –
You just gave me a great concept for a post. Reach out to me via email – I’ll see if I can collaborate it with you.
There were quotes from Brown about Jack being a great defender and passer and team leader and praising the signing to high heaven and since he was wrong about all three of those qualities it felt like a Brown move which would have happened through Gilbert. Bynum was also a guy Brown had already coached and was a great PR move. I actually even now don’t have a big problem with the signing but still to me didn’t seem like a Grant move. I have also talked to people who work in the front office but you’ll never take that… Read more »
Who do you think can do that @tv?
If new GM does fire Brown; they will not be hasty hiring a new coach after 2 coach firings. There will be a competitive interview process which will zone in on coaching young players, a real player development program, a cohesive BALANCED offense/defensive minded coach and one that has no problem benching pre-madonnas when they need it.
@Rodney Mac
Do you have anything to back up saying the decisions the Cavaliers organization made this past year to be pushed by Gilbert and not Grant? Other than your “sense”? The only things I can find are related to the Mike Brown hiring, and all of them say it was Grant who lead that push.
@Mallory- yes and yes.
Problem: ALL of the pieces don’t work, to varying degrees. How do you rank them- by level of suckness, or the value they can bring in return?
Nate- thanks for that LOL analogy. Can we hire Terry Gilliam to do a montage of that scene for the next CtB article?
“There is no move, nor any amount of capital investment, we will not make if we believe it will improve our chances of competing and winning in this league for both the short and long term.” Dan Gilbert statement
To me that statement says that we will spend to get talent, and we’ll get rid of Brown and eat the $16M if needed. I really respect and appreciate him adding this statement into the letter (which he didn’t have to do). Gotta appreciate his determination to deliver a winning team.
@Aaron
Those are the two names that come to mind to replace Brown. I doubt he’s here much longer either if this putrid type of production continues much longer. If there’s one guy who’d eat up that $16 mil, gotta be Dan Gilbert
Grant’s best trick as GM was to (try and) wriggle his way out of the mess he continually made.
Mallory think that we asll agree that tanking between 2011 and 2013 was a disaster. But 2014 seems to be a different story. At this point though its not really tanking since we can’t win anyways.
I’m going to pull a Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty” – 67 (circles it vigorously, underlines it several times.) Its been 67 days since the last Cavs: The Blog Podcast. Surely something worth hashing out has transpired in that time.
“I’m going to pull a Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty” – 67 (circles it vigorously, underlines it several times.) Its been 67 days since the last Cavs: The Blog Podcast. Surely something worth hashing out has transpired in that time.”
Paging Mallory.
Raoul I agree. I get the sense that Gilbert was behind most of the bad moves Grant made too. Bynum and Jack namely. I never got the sense that Grant was desperate to make something happen either. There were no rumours that he was lowering his very high standard for making trades. I get the feeling that Gilbert maybe the one pushing the insane trades more than Grant was. Right now all we need to do is flip Andy and Deng for assets since there is no way either is coming back and tank for a top 6 pick while… Read more »
KSD –
you really want to tank again? Didn’t we already establish that “planned” losing is a bad idea?
Time to find long-term pieces by getting rid of the ones who don’t work.
Nate for GM!
As your first point of focus as GM: What, as GM do you plan to do with MB?
I also give you comedic props for the Benny Hill analogy.
Gilbert’s insane plan to try to win this year is the biggest factor is the current mess. Now we have to worry that Gilbert will be more actively involved and screw things up for a generation.
I don’t understand how Lionel Hollins doesn’t have a job. I would love to see him brought in. Like, right now. Or, I think that George Karl would be a good fit for Kyrie’s skill set. He did wonders with Ty Lawson in DEN. And at the very least, they’d be fun to watch. Because we know Brown doesn’t coach offensive. And there is dwindling evidence that he is capable on the defensive end. (Steve Blake last night – 11, 15, 10)
Let me clarify, that as funny as that statement was, I was completely kidding, and endeavoring to make light of a serious situation. (Had to clarify. I don’t want to do anything to blow my shot at being GM).
Nate, love the analogy. Perfect. If the Cavs keep Brown how do they sign any free agents? Especially Deng. And if fellow Dukie Deng leaves I’m going take that as an indicator that Kyrie is soon out the door also.
I don’t know, Aaron. Dan seems to have too much Sonny Corelone, and not enough Michael in him.
Aaron well plain Dealer has the worst beat writers I’ve ever seen. I hink thatJAson lloyd has broken a few stories
Yeah, it’s a clown car right now. I get the feeling that it was just a madhouse at the Q, and/or Cleveland Clinics courts this morning. The security guards were probably chasing Chris Grant in his underwear to the Benny Hill theme, while he tried to phone in one last trade… Meanwhile Mike Brown made the Mike Brown face, Kyrie looked pensive, and Dan Gilbert was frantically emailing potential candidates in Comic Sans for the new “head of the franchise” position. Somewhere, Byron Scott is nodding stoically.
“I get the feeling that it was just a madhouse at the Q, and/or Cleveland Clinics courts this morning. The security guards were probably chasing Chris Grant in his underwear to the Benny Hill theme, while he trade to phone in one last trade…”
Very yes!
Firing him doesn’t effect the cap. Gilbert is a business man and should see this as a sunk cost. The opportunity cost of keeping Brown far outweighs keeping him. (And now I have exhausted all the business acumen I will ever accumulate)
Is anyone else bothered by the fact that these stories are broken by outside sources? I understand that Windhorst and Wojnarowski have great sources are are more plugged in than just about anyone but how do the beat writes (PD, ABJ and other papers of record) miss story (Dion) after story (Bynum for Deng) after story (Kyrie) after story (Grant)?
I can definitely see that Gilbert would be FUMING after last night. I can’t say that I blame him. Should give the new GM free reign to interview Brown and decide if he is the right guy going forward. I can only imagine how that Grant/Gilbert conversation went: Gilbert: “Just what is this sh*t we are putting on the court?” Grant: “Uhh, let me go over some stats here, uhh where is my player profile spreadsheets” Gilbert: “Don’t bother here’s a box – get your stuff together and get the hell out of here!” Honestly – what a low point.… Read more »
Meh. Aaron. Dan Gilbert still has final say. It’s going to take a lot to convince him to eat $16 million.
You don’t think that when a permanent GM comes in he won’t hire “his guy”? IMO this mean that Brown’s days are numbered.
As I read about this….a few stories characterize Grant as “the motivating factor behind hiring Mike Brown.” I always thought that Gilbert was the guy who wanted to bring Brown back so badly, not Grant. What the truth is behind Mike Brown will be the driving force behind how to interpret this move. If its true that Grant sold Brown’s virtues to Gilbert- then that means this should be viewed as a forshadowing to Brown’s eventual firing as well. That’s a good thing. But if Gilbert is in Brown’s corner- that means that Grant is Gilbert’s fall guy for Brown’s… Read more »
Sam Amico and now Jason Lloyd are reporting that team sources are confirming the firing of Chris Grant.
Awesome. Now it’s time to flip Andy and start tanking all out. Wiggins, here we come!
David Kahn, Isaiah Thomas, and Billy King just to name a few off the top of my head.
It is a zoo. I don’t see where the leadership is coming from. If it’s Casino Dan, then, yeah, Steve, we’re in trouble.
Is it reasonable to hope that there’s a plan to replace Grant? The organization needs an intelligent man or woman to identify the problems on the court, in the locker room, in the front office and decision making, and then begin seeking solutions and remedies. Okay, so Grant’s out – now what?
@Richard
That may very well be true, but how many could have screwed up this past offseason as badly as Grant did?
It is a zoo. I don’t see where the leadership is coming from. If it’s Casino Dan, then, yeah, Steve, we’re in trouble.
I’m not sure if any GM we hired in 2010 would have survived much longer.
If it weren’t for the ghost of Ted Stepien making sure that Clipper’s pick won the lottery, we’d be an infinitely uglier team. 2011 and 2013 were historically bad drafts.
The FA activity this summer not panning out is probably what lost him the job.
Hey, someone had to fall on their sword, and Grant isn’t owed $16 million over the next four years. Also, nothing’s been confirmed yet. The Cavs look like a zoo.
Chris Grant “The Architect of Disaster”
He tried to be way to smart when it came to draft picks and it cause this team it’s culture, it’s direction and now his job.
There is no doubt that, as the trade deadline approachs, Dan Gilbert, basketball aficionado, is the man to be making such important basketball-related decisions about our future. See you all in 2018.
Fired the wrong guy in my opinion. Should have been Brown. This move will only make things worse in the short-run.
#Cavs!