FanPost

Unwarranted Nostalgia for David Griffin?

I enjoy listening to podcasts in the morning, and in particular, the Bill Simmons podcast is one of my favorites. Simmons usually takes things from a fans perspective, which isn't necessarily new in sports commentary, but he usually adds such good insights and observations in my opinion. In any case, I want to bring something to your attention that he said the other day that got me thinking:

"Why is this narrative that David Griffin is such a great GM? I'm not against it, I just want to know where it came from and what the evidence is. And, I actually did some research. He, David Griffin, actually was not a good GM for Cleveland. I think he's very good at having great media relationships, and I think he gets credit maybe for the Tyronn Lue David Blatt thing. But if you go back to where they were that summer, first of all, he hired David Blatt, who is basically, never going to work again as an NBA head coach. They trade the number one pick for Kevin Love. Later that summer, they gave Anderson Varejao the three year $30 million contract extension...that was a salary cap murder."

I'm not a Cavaliers fan. I'm a Knicks fan, and as a one time participant in the courtship of Griffin's services following his departure from the Cavaliers in June, one might imagine that I was thrilled to be on the verge of bringing him in. If you aren't aware, the Knicks deal on a yearly basis with incompetent management, overbearing ownership, and general poor play, and Griffin, on the surface, appeared to bring the promise of a stable, capable general manager. Things fell apart between the two parties, as sources reported Griffin turned down the job when New York refused to allow him to replace the incumbent staff with his own people. How unfortunate.

ESPN would go on to report that Griffin would likely be working as a television analyst next year, and Ian Begley curiously included a July 10 article that "it's believed he has no other NBA job opportunities at the moment". It was sort of a strange thing to say. I mean, while perhaps readers were interested to know what Griffin's prospects for the future were at this time with the Knicks now out of contention, who besides Griffin would really be interested in that information? It seemed odd.

Then, after listening to Simmons' podcast this morning, it got me thinking about what made Griffin such a well respected general manager. I recall a couple of months back ESPN posting an article that listed Griffin as the 7th most well respected general manager in the league, a seemingly clear indication of his peer's opinions of him. In countless articles since the Cavaliers decided not to bring him back, fans and analysts alike have blasted owner Dan Gilbert for failing to bring him back. And even friends and casual observers that I talk to can't understand why such an obviously talented executive wasn't retained. But I'm not convinced.

As an outside observer, I suppose that I'm not the most qualified to comment on this matter, given I don't watch much Cavaliers basketball during the regular season, or have a complete understanding of Cleveland's front office structure. But Simmons' words pushed me to go learn a bit more about Griffin, his tenure in Cleveland, and why he was not brought back despite all the evidence indicating he's one of the best GMs and minds in basketball.

David Griffin was hired by the Phoenix Suns in 1993 as an intern. He worked his way up the organization over the next fourteen years, being named VP of Basketball Ops in 2007. He would work this position for three years before being hired in 2010 to the same position in Cleveland. After working under GM Chris Grant for four years, he succeeded him upon the latter's firing in 2014, being named acting GM in February. In May he was named the full time GM, and would hold this position until the expiration of his contract this June. Reports indicated he was seeking a raise, but I read that he was the third lowest paid GM in the association at this time.

During his tenure as GM for the Cavaliers made a number of changes to the personnel within the organization. He would hire two head coaches in his time, David Blatt in June of 2014, and Tyronn Lue in January of 2016 following Griffin's firing of Blatt due to reported clashes with star player Lebron James and an unpopular coaching style. Griffin made a number of changes to the construction of the roster as well. Shortly after his hiring as the new GM, league MVP Lebron James announced via Sports Illustrated that he would be returning to Cleveland, and Griffin would oversee his signing with the team in July of 2014. Griffin would use the number one pick of the draft to select Kansas guard Andrew Wiggins in June, only to trade him in late August along with Anthony Bennett and a 2015 first round selection for Kevin Love. This trio of Lebron, Love, and Kyrie Irving, the 2011 first overall pick, would serve as the nucleus for this team as you well know, capitulating in a Finals loss to the Warriors in 2015, a seven game victory against them in 2016, and most recently, a five game loss to them once again this season.

From what I can tell, most Cavs fans like the job that Griffin did. It wasn't perfect, and boasting a 33% success rate in the Finals is nothing to write home about, but it still stands that Cleveland won a title under Griffin's leadership, and that counts for a lot. Cleveland fans, while never actually receiving a ring, enjoyed three very successful seasons under Griffin that resulted in three finals appearances, not bad for a first time GM.

But what role did Griffin play in the success of this team? And, I think, far more interestingly, did Griffin do a good job as a GM?

On the surface, people will tell you he was instrumental, because obviously he was the GM, and people will tell you that he won a championship, certainly a sign of success.

So something isn't adding up. How is it that an instrumental component of a highly successful team not retained this year? As I understand it, Dan Gilbert is not the greatest of owners, and is known to butt heads with his staff and players at times (see Lebron letter). But if this GM was so respected, and so successful, how is that A. The Cavaliers weren't scrambling to retain him and B. No other teams jumped at the chance to bring him on in any capacity?

When I look at the facts, and ignore what the analysts, fans, and commentators say, a couple of things stand out to me about David Griffin's tenure in Cleveland. First: he was either a poor evaluator of draft talent, or someone who really wasn't interested in the long term future of the team. Second: He was a horrendous evaluator of the market for average to above average NBA talent. And third: He benefited tremendously from having arguably the best player of our generation.

Doc Rivers once said that you have a small opportunity to win a championship in the NBA, and sometimes you have to seize on your moments. Griffin certainly took that maxim in stride. But at what cost to the team? By my count, Griffin shipped four first round picks around the league over his tenure, and got in return Channing Frye, Kyle Korver, the clearing of Timofey Mozgov's contract, and the clearing of Jarrett Jack/Tyler Zellers contracts. With his picks, Cleveland has drafted Wiggins (who was traded), Gary Harris in the second round (who was traded), Tyus Jones in the first round (who was traded), Sir'Dominc Pointer in the second round, and Kay Felder in the second round. Pointer is now out of the league, and Felder is in the G League. Not a huge sample size, but clearly, Griffin has no exceptional ability to draft players.

While heavily criticized across the league, Phil Jackson proved if nothing else the ability to identify NBA level talent at multiple points in the draft, selecting franchise cornerstone Kristaps Porzingis in the first round, and NBA Rookie of the Month Willy Hernangomez in the mid second round. Say what you will of Jackson's tenure, he valued his draft picks and selected well.

And fine, I understand that first round picks are the price to pay to clear contracts, and that Cleveland is an organization in win-now mode trying to add proven veterans. They can't wait around for the young guys to develop, right? Well, not necessarily. Plenty of successful, win now teams still hold onto their picks. Ask the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, and Golden State Warriors. Their rosters are exceptionally talented and filled with young players like Domantas Sabonis, Dejounte Murray, Sam Dekker, and Pat McCaw. Clearly, there was no reason Griffin couldn't have held on to those late picks. While Korver and Frye are nice players, they are now on expiring contracts and on the wrong side of thirty. Remember, while the GM has an obligation to put together a competitive roster now, he also is supposed to consider the long term prospects of the organization. Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Houston, and Golden State didn't compromise their futures. Cleveland, however, did.

And fine. The team won a ring. Clearly the talent worked, right? Well, let's make sure we understand the context. Lebron James, who Griffin did not "manage" to sign, but was rather gifted in 2014, has gone to the Eastern Conference Finals in each of the last 7 years, and 9 times total in the last 11. He has gone on to the NBA Finals in each of the last 7 as well. Given the conference Lebron finds himself in, has there ever been any doubt that Lebron isn't good enough to bring this team, no matter the talent surrounding him, to at least the ECF? Certainly, Frye and Korver, while perhaps more helpful than a collection of rookies, were not the difference between an ECF loss and a Finals appearance. That much can be ascertained.

And while on the topic of veterans, lets discuss some of the contracts Griffin has signed. $30 million to Anderson Varejao. $45 million to Iman Shumpert. $57 million for JR Smith. $85 million to Tristan Thompson. The Cavaliers ranked dead last in luxury tax space in 2015, 2016, and 2017. They had the largest payroll in the entire league in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and ranked second in 2014. In 2017, for the third year in a row this team will rank dead last practical cap space. And for all of that treasure, the Cavaliers finished 9th -€” 9th! -€” in ELO ratings to conclude the season this year. Sure, they made the playoffs, but give Lebron some credit: he assists on the second highest percentage of his teammates baskets in the playoffs of all time, second literally only to all time assists leader John Stockton. Lebron's postseason play could carry virtually any constructed roster to the Eastern Conference, and the leagues most expensive roster without a question.

But even if I forget all of that and acknowledge that Lebron likes to play with who he likes to play with, and its important for David Griffin to keep his star player happy, where is the responsibility to the organization to consider the bigger picture? Danny Ainge, who I believe is probably one of the most talented general managers in the NBA, has managed to construct an organization that not only won the most games in the conference last season, not only got to the conference finals last season, and not only retained nearly all of it's picks (not to mention adding a few here and there to say the least), but did it without Lebron James! Clearly, there were a million cheaper, more long term conscience ways to construct at the least an Eastern Conference finals appearing roster. It took David Griffin the most expensive roster in the NBA every year for the last three years and one of the most veteran units in basketball to do what Danny Ainge managed to do with 16th most expensive roster and one of the youngest units in the league. Certainly, Lebron's 2007 Finals appearance is proof that even a barely serviceable roster around him could still at the least make the Finals in this league.

Nobody will take this ring away from Lebron, but don't tell me that David Griffin is some exceptional GM. Cleveland will be dealing with this myriad of expensive contracts, aging veterans, and a shortage of young talent for years because of Griffin's decisions. And, returning to my point about Begley's comment in his July 10 article, not a single NBA team has even called Griffin since his departure from the Cavaliers aside from the Knicks, who certainly are not the smartest organization in basketball. One would think that such a "highly respected" general manager could at least snag some kind of position in some organization somewhere; hell, even Ruben Amaro, former Phillies GM, managed to find a job as an outfielders coach with the Red Sox after the team fired him in 2015. To me, the nonexistent market for Griffin's services tells a whole lot more than ESPN's repeated praise of his tenure in Cleveland.

While David Griffin may not actually be incompetent or a bad GM, he certainly fooled me. He showed little interest in constructing a roster the way dozens of other talented teams have been doing successfully for years, and he filled this roster with cancerous contracts and players that are sure to hurt the organizations long after he, and, most likely, Lebron, are gone. Does he maybe deserve some credit for massaging the egos of the team? Perhaps. But he constructed this team. I'm not inclined to praise him for managing the egos of players he brought in. If this unit is as divisive as most people are trying to portray now, why did he decide to bring them in the first place?

I encourage Cleveland fans to let me know what you guys thought of Griffin's tenure, and whether this article changed your opinion of him at all.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on FearTheSword.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff at FearTheSword