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How an Imperfect Offseason Has Worked Out Great For David Griffin and the Cavaliers

David Griffin

Now hear me out. I'm aware that the Cavs locked down Kevin Love to a 5-year deal on the first day of free agency and LeBron James re-signed with the team on the first available day, but not everything has gone according to plan for the Cavs this summer. After the NBA Finals defeat, David Griffin talked about how he wanted the Cavs to get younger at a few positions and add depth to a team that ended the year down two all-stars and rode LeBron James as far as they could. Hopes were high that with Brendan Haywood's unique contract and the luring power of LeBron that the Cavs could retool the roster in the proper ways to ensure another deep run next season, with a little more luck this time around.

It is now July 24, and while the Haywood deal appears imminent according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, it looks like it will only be for a trade exception that will stretch out the value of the asset for another year. That is indeed not what fans had hoped for at the start of FA, with rumors circulating about the likes of Tiago Splitter to Joe Johnson at some point this summer. Even though the Cavs have seemingly struck out with the Haywood contract in the sense of bringing in an impact player or two, Griff now has an extended asset that he can use as needed for the next year. Don't forget, Griff used a trade exception (as well as draft picks) in the trade for Timofey Mozgov, and say something were to not work this next year, he will probably have a massive $10.5 million exception in his arsenal. So even with the Haywood contract not going according to plan, the Cavs have still turned it into a positive moving forward.

While the Cavs are still working on deals with Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith, both are expected to be back with the team next year, with TT looking at a huge contract, and Smith maybe as low as a one-year deal. The case with Smith is quite interesting, as he had the chance to ensure his return to the team in June, but declined his player option and thus became a free agent. This is probably not what the Cavs expected and they made it clear to Smith that he was not a priority this offseason and have only just started to open up the lanes of communication to possibly bring him back. Again, even though things didn't go as planned for Griff and the Cavs, they now hold all of the leverage on Smith, and could possibly bring him back for less than what his original option was. JR is now down to limited to no options in free agency, and basically has no foot to stand on in negotiations with the Cavs, which again has worked out great for Griff and the team, though it wasn't how they originally planned it to pan out.

The Cavs have made additions this summer, with the signings of Mo Williams and Richard Jefferson, which both cover obvious needs for the team. Now, these aren't the young players that Griff pledged to add this offseason, but just as he always seems to do, Griff was able to add talent, and for cheap at that, with Williams taking up a portion of the taxpayer MLE and Jefferson coming in on a veteran minimum contract. The addition of Mo is obviously a sentimental feeling for Cavs fans, as one of the most popular players in recent memory makes his return to the squad, but lets also not act like Mo won't help this team on the court. His ability to score and run both guard positions will add much needed depth and bench reliability this season, and while he doesn't defend like Matthew Dellavedova, who is also currently a RFA, he is able to take some pressure off of Kyrie Irving, especially as he heals from injury.

Outside of the backup PG, the other major question this offseason for the Cavs was what were they going to do about the depth on the wing to help take the load off of LeBron. While many fans dreamt of adding an impact player through the Haywood deal, that just didn't pan out as I pointed out above. With the wing depth in free agency drying up, and not to mention the Cavs not having really any resources minus minimum contracts to add talent, it was up to Griffin to try and find the best possible fit for this team. Thus he brought in Richard Jefferson, who at the age of 35 isn't the young wing that we all envisioned in late June, but seems like a more than solid pickup for this team going forward. I know, I know. This could be Shawn Marion or Mike Miller all over again with Jefferson, but the stats honestly suggest that he could fill a great role for the Cavs this year, as he's turned into a very reliable shooter, especially on the catch-and-shoot three, which is exactly how this Cavs team loves to operate. The funny thing about the Jefferson addition, is that he was all but back with the Dallas Mavericks, but in the wake of the DeAndre Jordan saga, was able to reconsider his decision and seek out a better fit, which just happened to be with the Cavs. So yet again, David Griffin was able to pull off a move that wasn't as originally planned, but could end up being another solid piece moving forward.

The Cavaliers offseason is not yet done, and David Griffin still has work to do, but just as everything didn't go according to plan this summer, he was still able to make the most out of the situation and once again position the Cavs for title runs in the years to come. The point of this story is to no matter what, put your trust in David Griffin because even if things don't go as planned, he will find a way.

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