Ex-Cavs GM David Griffin seems optimistic about Cleveland’s future

The Cleveland Cavaliers could be respectable in a few years, and a notable former executive for them sees a light at the end of the tunnel for them.

The Cleveland Cavaliers should finish out this season with one of the worst, if not, the worst record in the NBA. With them likely having a first-round draft pick in the next two years based on their record resulting in them having a top 10 pick (which must be the case or their pick goes to the Atlanta Hawks, per Real GM), the Cavaliers could be a whole lot better relatively soon.

Our own Corey Casey hit on the possibility of Cleveland landing either one or potentially even two franchise players with high draft picks in the next two years, and with how talent-deficient Cleveland will be the next two years, that could feasibly happen. In addition to the high draft picks, Cleveland does seem to be having the right approach with trades.

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They’ve traded away aging pieces that don’t fit a full-rebuild, such as George Hill (to the Milwaukee Bucks, where a highlight of the deal in exchange was Matthew Dellavedova), and Kyle Korver (who was dealt to the Utah Jazz).

In those deals, Cleveland general manager Koby Altman reportedly received future second-round draft picks from Milwaukee and Utah, and have added veteran players with contracts that could be nice trade pieces this season, such as Alec Burks from the Jazz (who is on an expiring contract), and John Henson, who expires after the 2019-20 from the Bucks, and could be a nice trade piece near the February 7 NBA trade deadline, as our Eli Mooneyham touched on.

Let’s not dismiss Rodney Hood‘s expiring contract, either.

Former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin seems to really like the Cavs’ approach thus far, and praised Cavs owner Dan Gilbert for his willingness to financially help the rebuild again, just like in 2010, per Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto.

"‘”Just like now, we had a huge advantage of an owner (Dan Gilbert) willing to take on money to help add assets and draft picks,” said Griffin. “He’s doing it again.”‘"

As we’ve touched on in the last few months, for the Cavs to put their best foot forward in this full-rebuild process, they’ll need to spend money taking on veteran contracts to gain quality talent via the draft in the near future.

Griffin noted how Gilbert was willing to do that in the first post-LeBron James-departure rebuild to help out previous Cleveland general manager Chris Grant, per Pluto.

"“Griffin pointed out the trade bringing Baron Davis and adding $14 million to the payroll also produced a first-round draft pick from the L.A. Clippers.That draft pick became Kyrie Irving, the All-Star point guard.Chris Grant pulled off the trade. As Griffin said, Gilbert was willing to trust Grant to make bold moves to pile up draft picks and lottery ping-pong balls.‘”I believe Dan trusts (current GM) Kobe Altman in the same way he he trusted Chris Grant,” said Griffin. “He has belief in this front office.”‘"

This is a good sign that Griffin, who was one of the best wheeler-and-dealers in the NBA when he was the Cavs GM during the first three years of the LeBron “Return,” believes that Cleveland is setting themselves up well again early in this rebuilding process. Him saying Gilbert has “belief” in Altman and company is huge, because that’s what it will take to get the train on the tracks again for Cleveland.

Gilbert, perhaps more than anyone, understands how important the trade deadline is for all NBA teams, and believes that the upcoming one could help Cleveland, given the aforementioned expiring contracts (again, per Pluto).

"‘”The Cavs have expiring contracts (Rodney Hood and Alec Burks) to trade,” said Griffin. “Dan’s willingness to spend also will help them add assets. I think they will be in the epicenter as the (February 8) trading deadline comes. It should be really interesting.”‘"

Pluto said how Griffin doesn’t see Cleveland being “that bad for that long.”

Clearly, whether Cleveland has success or not in the near future will be due to Altman’s ability to accumulate draft assets in the next few years. For now, it seems like he’s doing a good job of that, and with how Gilbert has been content spending in the past to help Cleveland down the line, Griffin’s optimism seems warranted.

After all, the former Cleveland Cavaliers executive knows first hand how crucial trades for future draft assets can be, and I’d expect Cleveland should be able to get solid players with some of those future draft picks down the road, or eventually trade them in exchange for good rotational pieces if the team develops into a regular postseason participant.

Whatever the plan is, it’s encouraging for Griffin to acknowledge that Gilbert will help immensely by spending whatever he has to.