***BREAKING NEWS*** David Griffin OUT
2017-06-19
The Cavs and general manager David Griffin will part ways according to sources
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) June 19, 2017
That about says it all, right? It appears that, after three years with the franchise, David Griffin and the Cleveland Cavaliers have mutually agreed to part ways. In addition, Trent Redden, the team’s senior vice president of basketball operations, is on his way out.
Reports have pegged Chauncey Billups a potential replacement:
Sources: Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert is targeting Chauncey Billups to become Cavs' top basketball executive. Sides expected to talk soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2017
It sounds as though Griffin may not have seen eye to eye with Gilbert on offseason moves, particularly the status of Kevin Love:
Per source familiar w/ breakdown, Griffin removed himself from consideration when it became clear his vision for CLE didn't match Gilbert's
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) June 19, 2017
This begs the question — after reports of trade talks between Cleveland and Chicago and Cleveland and Indiana for Butler and PG13, respectively, who the heck is negotiating on behalf of the Cavs?!
And of course, the players don’t seem to be in the loop:
Just reached out to a Cavs player for a response about the David Griffin departure. His response: "Griff is leaving?"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) June 19, 2017
What does this mean for the Cavs? Who would you like to seen brought in? What’s next for a tumultuous Cavalier offseason?!
https://twitter.com/cs_mcgowan/status/877288411211722752
https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/877292692174131200
Chandler Parsons and one other….
More like PG-13 and one other…
PG-!3 and one Chandler Parsons…
Even Magic’s not that dumb…
Nyets just love taking on contracts…
https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/877288395592130562
Hard to believe they’d dump Russell like that, even if they’re taking Ball. Russell still could be a really good player.
Russell can shoot pretty well, Ball isn’t much of a shooter by reputation, seems like a problem. Lakers don’t have a lot of shooting since they…oh wait, I don’t actually care!
Dude is a total chucker and can’t hit 41% from field.
He’s very young still. And he’s played on garbage teams with some garbage coaching for the most part…
A good deal for them tbh.
Awful actually
Wait, they gave up brook,?
Going to, apparently…
And they gave up a pick. What the actual f.
Moz!
https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/877287243236462592
Wow…
It’s weird that Woj called Mozzy “Tim” though…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co3ygE6H7PU
Bravo Phil!
There’s a Holy Grail clip for any occasion…
Given Gilbert’s track record with hires, absurd management style, and volatility, I believe everything in the McMenamin and Windhorst article.
This is the number one reason why I’ll miss David Griffin…
https://www.si.com/nba/2017/04/11/lebron-james-book-excerpt-nba-finals-draymond-green-david-griffin?xid=socialflow_twitter_si
Word. We shoulda put him on the t shirt.
In our defense, it came out after the fact…
He was on first one.
One of the ballsiest team wide e mail ever. And it wasn’t written in comic sans either
Chauncey… Being There
http://res.cloudinary.com/thedailybeast/image/upload/v1491847252/articles/2017/03/11/being-there-is-so-pertinent-today-that-we-should-call-it-being-here/170310-jones-being-there-tease_p1clet.jpg
I vote for Ben Werth as GM.
I vote for me.
Luckily… you don’t get a vote ;)
You can’t even make it through a game sober…
Just because LBJ has a house out here in LA, and a production company at Warner Bros, doesn’t mean he wants to play for the Lakers or Clippers… However, if either of those teams positions themselves to maximize an opportunity for him to win another championship or two, and Gilbert blinks on the money… I could see him making that choice. It’s premature, though, to label Gilbert as being done spending money just because he didn’t spend to keep Griff. He’s made no secret about how he values (or doesn’t) the GM position, and he’s still spent more than any… Read more »
LeBron said he was in Cleveland for the long term as long as he had a commitment from Gilbert to spending. Those words will haunt James if he walks again. I don’t think he will though.
But see… there’s that caveat about commitment to spending… I’m sure LBJ can spin and interpret that any which way…
Exactly, EG is right. The “commitment to spending” quote is the key to the Cavs future.
why do we believe Griffin is gone because they couldn’t agree on his salary? I saw somewhere that Windhorst alluded to it – it’s so hard for me to believe. Griffin spent 30 million to buy two draft picks. if he thought Griffin have the Cavs the best chance to win I have a hard time believing he’d let him walk over a few million dollars.
*Gilbert spent
Focus people. LeBron is not leaving this season. We either are going to end up with a core of LeBron, Kyrie, Love, or LeBron, Kyrie, and Butler.
This is good. Was Griffin a good GM? Yep. Should he have been kept? Yep. This doesn’t mean he was irreplaceable.
What if your core is Lebron, Kyrie and Melo? And Lebron maybe leaving after next season?
At this point, Cavs should go all in and hope to win a championship. It seems like championship or bust season for Cavs now.
My money on Wade and Bulls work out a buyout by Feb to allow Wade to join Lebron.
Really hope not…Wade mostly sucked in the playoffs…Lebron might get a little more out of him, but he doesn’t have much left…but if he’s signed for the min after a buyout, whatever…
Re: LeBron leaving
D Wade’s a good friend of LBJ and I think he greatly regrets leaving Miami where he once owned the town and now his legacy has taken a severe hit.
LeBron owns NE Ohio and I think he’d prefer to finish with his reputation in tact in Cleveland than make the same mistake Wade did.
Agreed, I just don’t see LeBron leaving for LA, but then again I didn’t see Durant going to the Warriors. I’m not going to rule out anything in the NBA anymore with what these players pull.
If DWade really regrets, he would opt out and leave bulls.
Pssh… who else is gonna pay him $24M to play next year?
exactly, can’t have regrets for a 24 mils part time job.
Sure you can… but the money will prevent him from acting on those regrets…
The doomsday clock on LeBron leaving shifted from 3p to 4p folks. Legendary players don’t jump around. Shaq has a seriously cheapened legacy bc of this
Nah. LeBron’s legacy is secure. He won in Cleveland where no one wins.
https://twitter.com/tompestak/status/877247590936477696
Chill with the panic, folks. There’s no point in borrowing trouble.
Where is that panic button? I’m hurting my hand pounding on the desk!
http://cdn2.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/panic-button-2-640×480.jpg
It is right next to the “Switch.”
Lol
Yep.
Amen. Let’s see who they hire and where their roster is in the Fall. I am frsutrated with the timing — given all of the big names on the trade block — but we need to give this some time.
Agreed, right now everything is pure speculation. We’ll know the deal once a move is made.
Yes don’t panic. Depending on how next season’s playoffs play out, James could have left anyway even if Griff was still here. No reason to calm your frustration at an organization whose owner seems to continually make very poor managerial decisions and hires. The frustration comes from not having an owner that continually screws up. That translate to a bad organization long term. How do we expect to become an elite long term small market team with this going on. Was Griff perfect? No. But I think objectively he was very very good, and the only good hire Gilbert has… Read more »
having an owner that continually screws up.
So Gilbert apparently offered a contract, that was insulting enough for Griff to leave. I find this problematic on a number of levels: 1. Gilbert actually wanted Griff to stay, but wasn’t willing to pay. Meaning, he’s no longer willing to spend to chase titles, even if Lebron supports the guy. Remember what went down in Miami when Mike Miller was cut? LBJ left. 2. Steve Kerr and Griff were GM and Asst. GM of the Suns in 2010. They were a playoff team. Then the organization wasn’t willing to pay/had a different vision. Both of them left. Both of… Read more »
It sounds like Gilbert was being a pennywise and a pound foolish with Griff. And thereby totally exposing his arrogance and foolishness by thinking a great GM isn’t essential.
Now things are getting really messed up.
https://clutchpoints.com/report-kyrie-irving-wants-out-of-cleveland-if-lebron-james-leaves-next-summer/
yup…..
Please, God, yes.
https://twitter.com/SeanDeveney/status/877252315983622144
We’ll give them Iman Shumpert and Dan Gilbert.
Kay Felder. Dan has lots of checks to sign.
Shump for him straight up, and the Rockets can thank us later. You’re welcome, Rockets.
I vote for GM Zach Lowe. Seriously, I think he could do it.
I second that.
He’d have as much a chance as Billups. Honestly, if David Griffin was available, Gilbert would probably hire him.
I’d love this
Dear God. I hope you aren’t serious. He is a writer. And most of what he does is overcomplicate simple stuff to come off as smarter than he is.
It’s hilarious that the same people are aghast at Billups because he has no experience would be fine with Lowe. That’s nuts.
I didn’t argue against Billups, I don’t really have that much of an opinion of him actually. Lowe will never happen but I do like his understanding of the game, knowledge of the cap and league connections. He seems like he has a lot of the skill set.
I thought Danny Ferry was a good GM.
He was OK. He had LeBron, cap space, draft picks and an owner willing to spend and ended up with Larry Hughes and Mo Williams. I was not sad to see him go. I don’t see why Gilbert gets a bad reputation for getting rid of crappy GMs. Griffin was a good GM and absolutely should’ve been kept, but all these other guys? Nah.
Because he hired the bad coaches/GM in the first place. And in Mike brown’s case, the second place.
Sure, but at least he got rid of them. People keep trotting out this 5 GMs in 12 years line like we had Jerry West running things and gilbert canned him.
LeBron not leaving. Makes his legacy about mercenary rather than home town savior. Chill out fam
He can go anywhere now that he won one for Cleveland and his Q rating won’t drop.
I disagree, LBJ could leave tomorrow and the general public/most of the cavs organization would blame @CavsDan.
I didn’t realize griff was so beloved and CavsDan so reviled.
I don’t think Cleveland fans appreciate looking like their teams are run incompetently
There has been an uneasy truce with Gilbert for the last three years. I think everyone recognized Griff has done an excellent job. I think, also, that we appreciated Gilbert’s passion and the letter and ponying up the money, but we also recognized that he’s kind of a mess – See Danny Ferry, Chris Grant, Mike Brown, Byron Scott, Mike Brown again, David Blatt. Now he wants to bring in Billips, with no experience, most likely because he played in Detroit. The same reason he thought Kay Felder needed to be drafted. Same reason he wanted Mike Izzo. Gilbert is… Read more »
Joey! Wham with the right hand!
He fired incompetent people? I don’t see why that’s a problem. I do think it’s a problem letting Griffin go. But those other guys failed for various reasons.
Wow. Sign here for this 150 million dollar bill. Oh, and keep your mouth shut.
Either, pony up the money and contend with James and allow people that know a touchdown from a three pointer to do their jobs, or don’t even pretend you are a competent owner who cares about winning. As simple as that. He either wants to win and thus spend, or he doesn’t care about winning with James and establishing long term credibility. Or the third option is being too ignorant to realize that trying to interfere with bball decisions is utterly and completely incompetent management. Delegate things you have no idea how to do to those technical experts that do.
I mean, that’s what he did. He spent and let Griffin do his job. Gilbert has been fantastic the last few years. It doesn’t make this particular decision to let Griffin go a good one, but I don’t understand all the hatred towards the guy.
I don’t hate him. I am just frustrated because it looks more and more to me like this team will never achieve continuous success without a guy like LBJ because of Gilbert’s decision making. I don’t mean championships. I just mean making the playoffs and contending. I want a well managed organization. Even if that doesn’t translate into championships, it will translate into more success and winning than failure going forward. I am doubting with Gilbert making the decisions that can happen.
They are currently achieving continuous success. I’d rather make the Finals 3 or 4 straight years than be the Pacers or other teams that have consistently made the playoffs. Even the Spurs only made the Finals 6 times over Tim Duncan’s career. We’ve been there four times with James.
That is great and we got a ship due to LBJ. It is mostly due to LBJ. However, despite his Ada a Tages Griff was a big part in getting solid and sometimes spectacular deals done, including a decent deal for Love. But what about after James? Well run organizations continually draft well, scout well, develop well, and coach well. That leads to greater success than failure over decades. I want a solid organization that continually does things right at the very top. I don’t have confidence in Gilbert to make the right hires or to have enough patience or… Read more »
God I hate typing on mobile…advantages
https://twitter.com/Claudio_GSN/status/877194457715814401
So true… and hilarious
It’s over. Gilbert doesn’t trust anyone and especially not LeBron. He knows LeBron is gone unless he spends and spends and I think he is calling a halt. He just isn’t into it anymore after getting his rocks off last year and knowing that chasing the West is too hard. It’s over.
Well, that’s a bit defeatist… still a lot that can and probably will happen in the next few weeks…
The more I think about it and digest all of the information, I think you are right. Griff probably wanted to trade Love and any future assets to make another run and Gilbert doesn’t want to. I also think its over. If/when Lebron leaves, Kyrie will just demand a trade and that’ll kill his value.
Woj just ripped Gilbert on Rome. Said that everyone in the organization was shocked and everyone backed Griff.
not shocking. Woj hates the Cavs
He’s also pretty connected.
he said LeBron would never come back to Cleveland.
AGREE WITH YOU EVIL ON LEBRON’S STATEMENTS TO KY —” WE’LL BE BACK HERE “—–ONLY IT MIGHT NOT BE WEARING A CAVS UNIFORM AS MEDIA NOW REPORTING KY MIGHT DEMAND A TRADE IF LEBRON LEAVES —WHICH I BELIEVE GRIFF WAS SOMEWHAT FEARFUL OF THIS HAPPENING AND DIDN’T WANT ANY PART OF IT —WITH THESE RUMORS CIRCULATING DOES BUTLER STILL WANT TO BE TRADED TO THE CAVS
If we deal Love for a wing, we better pull off a miracle to turn our overpaid bench guys into a stud rebounder. Outside of Love, we don’t have a great rebounder on this roster. TT was totally exposed against GS. Sure, he can nab a bunch of OREBs, but the guy has never been a very good defensive rebounder.
Maybe we can throw something at New Orleans at the deadline next season to rent Cousin to play the 5. Otherwise, I just don’t know who grabs rebounds on this team.
Great point. Love and LeBron were our primary defensive rebounders in the playoffs.
Interesting…
https://twitter.com/DustinFox37/status/877151037811032064
Cavs pretty much cornered themselves to make that deal if it is there. Gilbert might have underestimated the impact, now he has to make some big moves like this one to move the focus from himself.
Meanwhile… if they can stay healthy and grow together… the Sixers really could be the next powerhouse team in a few years…
Yep. Only took 8 years of tanking.
Technically… it was only 5 years of tanking… poor Sam Hinkie…
Sixers, Minny and Celtics have a chance to field 4 all stars after next year if they draft or trade well. Celtics can actually make a team of 4 all stars with the picks they have.
Except, Danny Ainge is a terrible drafter of talent…
yes, that is there. With their picks, they can probably trade for 2 all stars among Butler, George and Hayward and they have 2 all stars in the team. That is 4 all stars.
Who are their two All Stars? And don’t say Al Horford…
lol, 4 max players then. Al Horford is borderline all star who has a chance to become an all star next year.
Horford is 31 and has been in the League nine years… yes, he’s been an all star four times, but he is a token one at best… he’s a wannabe stretch five who can’t rebound and shrinks in every playoffs ever…
You obviously watch him more than me, so you could be more right than me. From my observation, he does lot more than box score shows plus unselfish team player.
Looking at his stats, he shot 58% from field, 33% from 3s. He does remind me of Rasheed Wallace just without the baggage.
Or without any of the toughness, or rebounding ability… Horford’s a dud… he couldn’t get the Hawks over the hump, and he won’t get Boston there either… They’d be smart to see what they could get for their two “All Stars” at this point because neither of them will help them get past the second round…
The Turtle (Horford) is a glorified role player.
I’ve been clamoring for years that Philly was doing it right by blatantly taking for a long time. Instead of being a mediocre East playoff team like the Hawks, they are now in a position, barring injuries, to have a studly young team for years. Embiid-Simmons-Fultz has the potential to be the best core in basketball in a couple years.
Or be out of the league with injuries…
Kevin Pritchard overplaying his hand?
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/246355/Paxacers-Tried-To-Engage-Warriors-Cavaliers-In-Bidding-War-For-Paul-George
No way that could ever be real, why would the warriors ever be interested? It would also crush their cap situation, at least now Draymond and Klay are on the old CBA deals.
I feel bad for Love though, he played his ass off in the finals and was great most of the regular season. It sucks he is most likely going to be the odd man out.
I think LeBron’s quote to Kyrie said it all though… “You and me… we’ll be back here”
Hmm…what is this quote from Lebron to Ky? When did he say that?!
After Game 5 in the tunnel…
Oh….ok. Gotcha.
Yeah. The new rocky colavito.
When you think about it is unbelievable that the Cavs have and Spurs both have really good rosters right now but since the Warriors screwed the whole league now they are trying to match the team USA roster like that the Warriors have.
And I’m afraid neither will be able to match them.
Seriously… this is how they will get CP3 btw…
https://twitter.com/ChrisMannixYS/status/877214512847482880
They should go after Hayward.
They don’t need Hayward, they have Kawhi… they need a Tony Parker replacement who plays better D…
So assistant GM Koby Altman is working as the GM right now.
At least until tomorrow when @CavsDan announces Chauncey as the new GM…
Surprised he’s waiting so long…
Hey Nate… how about KLove for Porzingis?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It would never happen… but curious as to why you’d be so opposed, since Zinger is six years younger, four inches taller and has a ridiculous ceiling…
Because Love is a better player and in his current prime right now. If LeBron wasn’t on the team I’d think about it because of the age difference. But we need to keep winning now.
Zinger is the best big man in the EC…
Zinger for Love would be amazing, plus its gives some cap flexibility? It’s never happening though.
If the Cavs would also take on Melo’s contract and find a third team to facilitate picks it would have a better chance…
I’d do Love for Melo and Porzingis, but not just for one.
If knicks can get rid of two bad contracts in Melo+Noah, then knicks may do it for Love and Tristan. But really, I think it has to be atleast Kyrie to get Zingis.
No way. There’s both Antetokoumpo and Embiid in the distance ahead of Zinger who are soon to be joined by Ben Simmons.
Alphabet is not technically a big man, and Embiid has played all of 31 games… let’s see if he can stay healthy…
By the way…
https://twitter.com/TommyBeer/status/877203534135033857
Yes. He’s good. But Love is better right now.
He is a good defender with chance to become a great defender. https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/877216889755381760
Damn. That’s very tempting. Especially on a rookie deal.
No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cols hates this. I am on board.
would be a coup.
That would be awesome. Maybe a little dip and then crushing superiority for years to come.
I think Phil Jackson might have early onset Alzheimers…
https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/877193599473025024
He has to be crazy that kid has an incredible skill set.
Playing for the Knicks is wearing him down. Phil takes it as a personal affront that he isn’t thrilled to be there.
I just hope that the Cavs are not trading KLove for Jimmy B.
Or anyone.
It’s going to happen though most likely… Certainly would make sense for Lakers to help facilitate three way deal that would send KLove to LA, picks to Bulls and Butler to Cavs… Lakers should be pretty good in a couple years with their own big three of KLove, PG-13 and Westbrook…
Oh, now I see. Thanks for the explanation EG.
Love for Paul George (if we get assurances that George signs an extension) is a good move though.
Agreed!!
Well I would trade Shump and Frye for him.
I would put money on Love being the linchpin of that trade… No way we get him for anything but one of the big 3.
I don’t think @CavsDan was necessarily going to move on from Griff… I think he was trying to paint him into a corner by denying permission for other teams to speak to him, and thought he could eventually get him to re-sign on his terms… Griff’s only move would be to accept or walk away…
Yeah, sounds like he went low on his offer. Which makes no sense to me considering Griffin helped bring us a title.
And the reports that Gilbert didn’t consult Lebron in letting Griff go. That is not smart at all.
https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN/status/876964830510551040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsports.yahoo.com%2Flebron-james-doesnt-seem-happy-see-david-griffin-leave-cavs-043100150.html
We already know this.
What are the odds Dan Gilbert sells the Cavs to go own the Pistons? Fingers crossed for that happening down the road.
I expect LeBron will buy the Cavs from Dan at some point…
That’s what I’m hoping for. Well documented that LeBron plans on owning a franchise at some point. Hopefully Gilbert doesn’t get all douchy about selling the Cavs to Bron.
Considering Gilbert’s willingness to spend on players, I am not hoping he sells the team. I like owners who spend the big bucks. And we need that in Cleveland. After James leaves it’s not like this is going to be some huge free agent landing spot without big money.
You don’t think Bron would be willing to spend?
I really have no idea. We know that Gilbert is willing to spend. Although apparently not on the only good GM we’ve had in the last 20 years.
Gilbert has 5bill. Lebron has 400mill.
best comment of all time.
Lebron leaves next year, Gilbert falls on the sword and says it is his fault. In 2022-25, sells team to Lebron for a huge profit and Gilbert buys the Pistons. Lebron then trades for his son. SIGN ME UP!
Apparently Jimmy B wants to be here and has talked to Kyrie and LeBron…I say make it happen.
Yes!!
Source? Not seeing anything on the twitters…
I got a CBS alert for it on my phone a bit ago. Didn’t check who wrote it though.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2716744-jimmy-butler-rumored-to-want-cavs-trade-spoke-to-lebron-james-kyrie-irving
Here’s the Chicago Sun Times article…
http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/sources-out-of-cleveland-say-jimmy-butler-will-push-for-trade-to-cavs/amp/
Thanks!
http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/sources-out-of-cleveland-say-jimmy-butler-will-push-for-trade-to-cavs/amp/
Griffin did NOT bring Cleveland a championship. The Cavs won the championship on LeBron’s back with help. This will be a non-issue in a month.
This is a good perspective. Even if we do nothing we are back in the finals.
What exactly makes Chauncey Billups GM material for a championship contender? At least Griff was an assistant GM for four years learning from Chris Grant’s mistakes… Chauncey seems like a good guy, but I’ve been less than impressed with his talent assessments in his commentary as a broadcast analyst…
Nah. I think they will bring him in as a president type and get someone with experience to the GM stuff. Also don’t take what he said on teevee as gospel. Those are hot takes meant to fete eyeballs. I hope.
I agree with Cols, often times the analysts are just playing off of the other guys and ESPN has made Jalen a centerpiece and Billups just can’t always agree with the other guys. The guy that is most likely going to work under Billups has experience in 2 prior successful stops…
https://www.slcdunk.com/2017/6/19/15835384/nba-rumor-past-utah-jazz-assistant-gm-justin-zanik-utah-jazz-milwaukee-bucks-jon-hurst
You say “they” like it’s anyone other than Dan Gilbert making the decision… This is the same guy who hired David Blatt who had no prior NBA coaching experience… I could see him bringing in an experienced advisor to help Chauncey, but guaranteed Billups is the GM in name if he’s hired…
The flip side though is that a former player/NBA Champ might relate with Lebron more and also have an ability to recruit players/vets to come and play.
I agree this whole situation stinks and really makes me question my fandom and support for the team knowing the type of owner we have running it. I am shocked that Gilbert didn’t consult Lue/James on this. It is really going to suck if everything blows up next year.
I root for laundry. So even when this glorious era comes to an end I will still be a Cavs fan. Firing a GM over money is not going to change that even if Ondiaagree with it.
They already have LBJ for that though… Griff and Redden were particularly good at finding creative solutions to adding guys once they were recruited…
While fandom shouldn’t be blind… if the front office/owner of a team soured me on this franchise, I would have found another team to root for after Ted Stepien… #Cavs4Life
https://twitter.com/ESPNCleveland/status/877166462825312256
What if Billups can somehow get Hinkie to run the day to day GM duties? Could that prepare the Cavs for the post Lebron Era or just possibly maximize whatever rosters moves there are?
I posted the name of the guy they’ll probably get somewhere below
https://twitter.com/Cadavalier/status/877168544592662529
Griffin’s best quality.
https://twitter.com/oldseaminer/status/876995645659373568
Billups as president sounds good, as long as he hires someone with experience as GM and they keep most of the FO staff. I don’t want them to go away from the analytical approach they’ve taken since Grant was here.
I’ve read most of the staff are gone along with Griff
I hope we don’t do something crazier than not keeping David Griffin.
MOST OF THE MEDIA SAYING GILBERT JUST NOW ( NOT REHIRING GRIFF ) GAVE LEBRON THE ” PERFECT DOOR ” TO LEAVE WITH GRACE / DIGNITY NEXT SUMMER ……STAY TUNED… ” GENERAL ” CAVS ” HOSPITAL
Things that Griff was good at: team character, doing trade deals and creating cap space. Collecting shooting.
Things that Griff wasn’t particularly good at: getting difference makers late in the draft or off the scrapheap.
An interesting man. We’ll miss you Griff…
Eh. To get difference makers you have to have opportunity to develop. Cavs haven’t been good at that. Plus you have to get lucky. Cavs missed opportunities for sure and tended to favor shooting over everything. That last one probably Griff biggest blind spot. But I’m not sure the Cavs were in a position where that moved needle much.
Spurs always seem to get lucky, though…
Cavs got lucky with JR, but Griff was as surprised as anyone by that.
So is everyone resigned to LeBron leaving after next season? I still feel like he was planning on retiring here. To me, moving out west doesn’t seem like a LeBron move. If he goes west, he still likely doesn’t get a team as capable of challenging the Warriors and STILL has to face them only a round earlier. If he just wants to play with Banana Boat, then okay, but Melo and Wade are past their primes and could no longer compete with the Dubs. So for him to try to form that team now, after LeBron has had some… Read more »
If he leave then he leaves. He came here and got us a title. If he wants to go full banana boat in LA, I won’t be mad.
I think the move to LA might be to kick off his movie career in earnest before he retires. I suspect that he WILL have a blockbuster franchise down the road. Whether moving to LA will actually make much difference, though, I don’t know.
No. Not resigned nor do I particularly care. No point in borrowing trouble or worrying about things I can’t control.
Windy on RBS said he has an article dropping today: bottom line, it was about money and control. When Griff got Dan’s offer between 6 and 730 they decided to part ways. Bottom line: it’s always about the money.
Bah Humbug.
Ha. Just the money. Dammit. Oh well, new blood in FOs can be useful.
Not just money. Otherwise staff doesn’t go with him
I hope this ends up like Blatt. NBA twitter and CtB burns down with hot takes and we end up with someone better.
I liked Griffin though.
Dan Gilbert has a long history of making terrible moves. Griff was default gm when grant left. The odds of him making a good hire are low. Gm has to be smart. Gilbert is used to hiring salespeople. Not numbers nerds and basketball junkiess.
What terrible moves does Gilbert have a history of making? This is one, IMO, but what are the others?
Hiring Mike Brown? Twice? I forgot you are a huge Brown guy…
Also, the Cavs have been one of the most analytical teams since the Chris Grant era.
I’m a huge Kyrie and Love fan and would be sad to see either go. With that being said if they are being shopped what are the thoughts of package to Phoenix with one of them for Bledsoe and the 4th pick?
IF YOUR THEORY IS TRUE AND GILBERT ALLOWS GRIFF TO MAKE THOSE DEALS– ESPECIALLY TRADING KYRIE FOR BUTLER —-ARE WE STILL SINGING THE PRAISES FOR GRIFF OR CONDEMING HIM … I WOULDN’T BE ‘ ALL IN ” FOR KY TRADE
I’d be conflicted for sure. I’m a huge fan of both Love and Kyrie. I think the pros of having Butler, PG, and Bron together might’ve won me over in the long run, though I doubt both moves happen anymore if I’m even right about the idea anyway. The defensive versatility and transition offense potential could’ve been awesome. Three great athletes with good size running the lanes together couldve been fun.
Theory: Griff was going HUGE in his swings this week. It looks like he had something working with Love for George in a 3-way with Phoenix. I think the Butler talks Griff was deep into may have been for Kyrie! I think he was trying to form a super-switchy defensive monster, and maybe Gilbert was on board with trading Love, but freaked out when he heard the plan to give up Kyrie too and had to pull the plug immediately. It makes sense of the timing. As an aside, if we would’ve pulled off those two moves, I would have… Read more »
This rings true. I’m sold on it.
STILL THINK ONE OF GRIFF’S REASONS TO LEAVE WAS HE HAD A GREAT “FEEL ” THAT LEBRON WAS GOING TO LEAVE NEXT SEASON / SAW THE ” MURKY ” WATERS DOWN THE ROAD OF POSSIBLE REBUILD- ( ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED WHAT HE WANTED TO DO HERE IN CLEVELAND / NBA CHAMPIONSHIP ) —–DIDN’T WANT TO BE PART OF THAT REBUILD / WILL PROBABLY GET HIRED BY A TEAM WITH A LOAD OF YOUNG TALENT —EXCITING /PROMISING FUTURE —THE CONTRACT DISPUTE —PLAYER TRADE DISPUTE OR WHATEVER MADE IT AN EASY DECISION —OUT FOR HIM —–WANT TO THANK HIM FOR GREAT JOB HE… Read more »
I share everyone’s disappointment. But I want to give this a weeek to see how it shakes out. Its hard to know what all of this means until we see next move. The LBJ tweet is not great, but it could just be respect for Griff.
I still would be surprised if LBJ goes to LA. But who knows.
DO YOU WANT GEORGE OVER BUTLER —-
If he would re-sign, George. If unsure- Butler
Not consulting LeBron seems like a big mistake to me. Let’s come out the other side of this with Paul George.
AGREE WITH YOU KEVIN ( AND I AM A HUGE GRIFF FAN !! )—-ALSO LEBRON ” SOMEWHAT THREW GRIFF UNDER THE BUS ” UNTIL HE AQUIRED KORVER / DWILL ” THEN KIND OF CHANGED HIS TUNE …..ALSO TY AND CHAUNCEY ARE GOOD FRIENDS.. WAS THERE A DISCONNECT POSSIBLY BETWEEN HIM AND GRIFFF THAT HELPED PUSH HIS DEPARTURE … ALL WE CAN DO NOW IS HOPE THAT CHAUNCEY BEING IN THE LEAGUE FOR CLOSE TO 20 YRS / HAS BEEN AROUND—EXPOSED TO THE BASKETBALL WAYS–LIFE –HAS AQUIRED SOME USEFUL KNOWLEDGE—MADE SOME CLOSE CONNECTIONS TO KEEP THIS SHIP HEADED IN RIGHT DIRECTION… Read more »
I remember people killing LeBron after Blatt was fired. Later, Griffin confirmed repeatedly it was his decision, and no one said anything. People killed LeBron this year when he said they needed a playmaker. The best Griffin could do was D Will. We know how that turned out. And meanwhile, the cupboard is empty in Cleveland. It seems Griffin gets a free pass from the fans. People blast LeBron because he knows what the team needs to do to win and then balk in fear at the prospect of him leaving again. I’ve never seen a GM of a Cleveland… Read more »
Yeah I thought Griffin was a good GM but we may be overrating him a bit because of his ability to “do something” all the time.
We’ll have a better idea soon enough why this happened. Firing Blatt mid season with the best record in the conference seemed ridiculous at the time and the more we learned about how much Blatt wasn’t respected by LeBron/Co the more it made sense. Hard to believe Gilbert and Griffin wouldn’t be able to come to an agreement over $ – as Gilbert spares no expense on the Cavs. I wonder if it was a confidence in Ty Lue thing. Lack of confidence in Mike Brown had a lot to do with why Ferry was not resigned as GM back… Read more »
Hmmmm. I’ve read all the articles, comments, tweets. Something that I haven’t seen mentioned: maybe it was about the coach….
Gilbert needs to stick to just writing checks. Whenever he goes farther than that, he makes a mess of everything.
This is not good. Big mistake.
Winning a championship after joining a 73 win team is like losing your virginity to a hooker!
Meant to give credit to Rihanna for that post.
A main ingredient to keep a small market sports team profitable, is by being a contender because of the exposure it will have (and because it has marketable star players).
Griffin has successfully done that.
Dan wants to replace him with a guy who can make his team profitable when rebuilding?
It doesn’t f*cking make sense.
What difference in philosophy, approach are they even talking about.?
Kind of funny. As much as I hate this move, it probably means Kevin is more likely to stay. Probably better for my Cavs’ fandom long term.
Was thinking that too.
Cavs were in a position to be in every finals for the next 5 years. Just had to get someone to spell LeBron for 12 minutes a night in finals. Griffin’s stability and guidance made that possible. Now it’s dogs living with cats and total anarchy. Bad way to run an organisation.
5 years might be a stretch, but it doesn’t take away from your statement.
Even with the easier road in the east, I think Lebron leaving the year after next and going to San Antonio or elsewhere is now very likely if they can’t upgrade talent this year and get obliterated by golden state next year.
And Griffin has not found said guy to spell LeBron. Griffin is overrated. Everyone will see
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19067045/cleveland-cavaliers-gm-david-griffin-gets-endorsement-lebron-james
Here’s what Lebron has to say back in April.
There’s no way Lebron wants Griffin out. Lebron won’t be here forever. The lack of stability might backfire on Dan in the post-Lebron era.
https://twitter.com/mikepolkjr/status/876949199937560579
Absolutely.
Gilbert owns half of Detroit. Just by having Lebron and Kyrie the next 3 years can absolutely make the business profitable. Griffin has proven he can build a championship team and with his track record we all know we can still be a contender after Lebron retires. And Gilbert can’t take a hit of maybe an increase of 5 million to the mastermind behind all of this!
I don’t think it’s the money. I believe it’s the difference in philosophy, and ego.
Dan may not be as smart in the Basketball business then..
I don’t think he liked losing to Joe Lacob, whose not even worth a Bilion dollars, yet. Plus Joe Lacob is as cocky of an owner as they come.
And I say this not caring whether or not Lacob is worth a billlion or more. But I think Gilbert does.
“Per source familiar w/ breakdown, Griffin removed himself from consideration when it became clear his vision for CLE didn’t match Gilbert’s” –Dave McMenamin
I wonder what Griffin’s vision was? I guess we’ll be finding out what Gilbert’s is.