David Griffin Is An Underrated General Manager
Despite possessing one of the more star-studded rosters in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ best asset may well be in its front office.
Lets just rewind a little bit shall we?
February 6, 2014: It is hard to believe that the Cleveland Cavaliers are in this position. In the year where they were meant to contend for a playoff spot, with the shadow of a possible LeBron James reunion hanging over the franchise, the Cavs are once again in disarray.
Arguably the nadir of the post-LeBron Cavaliers comes in an appalling loss at home to a Los Angeles Lakers team that is so banged up that it cannot dress 10 players on the night.
Following the dispiriting loss, the Cavs announce the firing of General Manager Chris Grant, with David Griffin acting as interim GM until the end of the 2013-14 season.
If you would’ve told anyone that just two seasons later the Cavaliers would not only have LeBron James on the books, but also have a NBA title under their belt, you’d have been laughed out of the room.
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In many ways, Griffin is in the ultimate no-win situation. Much like Cavs’ coach Tyronn Lue, any positive result for the Cavaliers, such as a title, is attributed to James and the rest of the players.
Any major coaching maneuver or spectacular trade, is also attributed to “GM and Coach” LeBron.
However, in just over two years on the job, Griffin is yet to put a foot wrong.
The roots to the Cavaliers’ title journey began right after he stepped in during that treacherous 2013-14 season.
Griffin’s very first move was a modest one, bringing in sharp-shooting big man Spencer Hawes from the Philadelphia 76ers at the trade deadline. Little did anyone know that Griffin would make trade deadline moves his staple in the coming years.
Upon his arrival in Cleveland, like many of the players Griffin has brought into the organization, Hawes proceeded to play some of the best basketball of his career, notably shooting 46.8 percent from long distance in 27 games with the Cavaliers.
However, Griffin has mastered the art of ‘selling high’ on players, and he did so with Hawes, allowing the big man to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. Hawes has since seen his production in every statistic suffer drastic declines.
Forgotten in the minds of many is the narrative from that season that the team’s one young asset, Kyrie Irving, was strongly considering not signing a rookie extension and had eyes elsewhere.
In 2013-14, the stigma from LeBron James’ decision was still very prominent around the Cavaliers’ franchise, and the talk of Irving’s camp wanting out seemingly got louder and louder as the season wore on.
Forget re-signing the prodigal son, there’s no possibility of that happening without keeping the one star already on the roster.
Walking into the meeting with Irving with no promise of a James reunion, Griffin was able to sell the young point guard on his plan for the franchise, and Irving promptly signed a five-year, $90M deal to stay in Cleveland.
Following the signing of Irving, the next point of business was filling the gaping hole at the small forward position.
Griffin and the Cavaliers’ world was turned upside down upon receiving a phone call from James’ agent Rich Paul, stating that his client was interested in a homecoming.
However, in order to get his hands on James, Griffin had to show the ability to make room for James.
Once again, with no guarantee from the superstar, Griffin executed a three-team trade with the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets, jettisoning Tyler Zeller, Jarrett Jack and Sergey Karasev for next-to-nothing in order to make way for a player that may not have ever arrived.
While the ability to clear cap space isn’t a particularly special trait, the timing of Griffin’s move showed his proactive and ambitious nature to James and his camp. It is this very nature that would allow Griffin to later make a franchise-altering decision.
Just days later, the prodigal son announced he was returning home via Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated. Griffin had won the summer, but he wasn’t done yet.
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Griffin would round out his summer by trading for All-Star forward Kevin Love, as well as adding veterans James Jones, Mike Miller and Shawn Marion.
However, half way through the season, the Cavaliers were hovering around the .500 mark, unheard of for a team with LeBron James on its roster.
With the noise around the team reaching a fever-pitch, Griffin once again pulled off a pair of spectacular trades.
In two separate moves, Griffin added Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, for Dion Waiters and a first-round draft pick.
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Addressing all the team’s needs in what was essentially one move, Griffin’s reload allowed the Cavaliers to transform into the juggernaut that many had anticipated prior to the season.
The first season of the new Big Three Cavs ended with Irving and Love watching on the sidelines, as a depleted Cavs squad succumbed to the Warriors.
Meanwhile, Griffin braced himself for another whirlwind summer.
Throughout much of the 2014-15 season, the awkward fit between Love and the rest of his Cavaliers teammates meant that a move away from Cleveland was a possibility, given Love’s impending free-agency.
For Griffin, having traded away first overall pick Andrew Wiggins to acquire Love, losing him just a year later would have been disastrous.
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In addition to Love, Griffin also had to negotiate the contracts of Smith, Shumpert and Tristan Thompson.
Griffin not only re-signed Love to a five-year deal, he also negotiated long-term deals for Shumpert and Thompson, signing them for contracts which became under market value just 12 months later due to the NBA’s cap spike.
Griffin finished off his second summer by adding veterans Richard Jefferson and Mo Williams to the core, but his best and most polarizing move was yet to come.
After a relatively successful road trip of Texas, the Cavaliers returned home to play the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
What ensued was a beat down of epic proportions.
In what was supposed to be a Finals preview, the Warriors looked to be on a different planet to the hapless Cavaliers, as they trounced the home team by 34 points.
Throughout his two years at the helm, rumors had consistently surrounded the Cavs’ head coach David Blatt.
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Just two games following the Warriors debacle, with the Cavaliers sitting atop the Eastern Conference, Blatt was gone.
Blatt’s removal as head coach showed yet again the proactive nature of Griffin’s management. The easier move would have been to just roll with the tide, citing the Cavaliers’ record at the time, but Griffin saw through the facade that was the wins and losses.
"“What I see is that we need to build a collective spirit, a strength of spirit, a collective will. Elite teams always have that, and you see it everywhere. To be truly elite, we have to buy into a set of values and principles that we believe in. That becomes our identity.”"
As has become a theme throughout his tenure, Griffin’s decision to replace Blatt with Lue proved to be a master stroke.
Lue’s ability to connect with his players, while also demanding their respect, instantly transformed the locker room atmosphere.
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Griffin also managed to work his magic at the deadline, acquiring Channing Frye in a trade that sent fan-favorite, Anderson Varejao, to the Golden State Warriors.
Exchanging Varejao, who barely played, for a key cog in the Cavs’ machine in Frye, proved to be another pivotal moment in the Cavs’ journey.
Frye not only improved the locker room atmosphere, he was outstanding in the playoffs, shooting a remarkable 56.5 percent from long-distance, making the Cavaliers’ offense that much more unstoppable.
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Just over two years into his tenure, David Griffin has overseen a historic transformation both on and off the court, delivering success to a franchise and a city that was devoid of it for over five decades.
Sure, you can say having LeBron James helps, and it does, but in Griffin, the Cavaliers have a man that not only James, but the whole organization can trust in, to make the right move time and time again.
That right there, is a good asset to have.