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So long, David Griffin

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Hated paying to get rid of Zeller.

That's such a tough one.

Rich Paul said "clear max cap space". So the Cavs had to do it in a very short timeframe.

LeBron really could have helped us save some assets we would have benefited greatly from saving if he would have worked with us a little bit on that kind of thing.

I understand why he didn't, but ultimately the Cavs had to open the space quickly or we werent even in the running.
 
Let's reset the discussion, let's make it a goal to assess the roster without race coming up. Has Griffin done some exceptional maneuvering? Absolutely:

+Without many assets, he traded for a 2nd round pick, Dunleavy, then Korver.
+He dug DeAndre Liggins out of D League purgatory and received some quality "minutes eater" play early in the year.
+When building the roster at the trade deadline, he got tremendous value from teams when the teams didn't have trade assets.
+He identified who he believes the Cavaliers core rotation should be, rotates the periphery of the rotation because of outside inflating factors like the unexpected free agency spending spree of 2016.


Is he perfect in that quest? I think Shakey is pushing hard for one side like a lawyer while others are pointing out lack of perfection in this roster.

- After two deep playoff runs, the odometer on a few key rotation minutes got too high and they needed more rest.
- The quality of the bench depth took a huge hit for 2/3rds of the season. The cost shows up with how run down the vets at key positions, including TT, happen to look at the end of this season.
- We can turn this into another Delly thread, which I don't condone, but it's clear as day the Cavaliers had poor bench play from the guard position. That was an area where Delly always ate big minutes in the regular season, no matter how you feel about the play on the court during those minutes. Felder just couldn't eat minutes, he wasn't ready.
- It can be argued that Griffin unloaded too many assets early in his run as GM that would have paid dividends this year. Two first rounders for Moz looks worse when Moz is sitting on the Lakers bench and TT has tendonitis.
- I think it's absolutely fair to say Shumpert hadn't given Griff what he expected when he was the centerpiece of the New York trade and the recipient of an 11 million a year contract.

This is excellent overall. I'd just add on the negative side that too little attention has been paid to the 5. Yes, he got Moz, but without a plan to keep him or find someone else with a defensive-oriented mindset to eat minutes when TT had to sit. We've brought in wing guys by the buttload, but fallen down when it comes to size. You don't need it against everyone, but when you do, you really need it.

This has not hurt us as badly as it probably should have because of TT's freakish durability, but that's more luck than skill.
 
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This is excellent overall. I'd just add on the negative side that to0 little attention has been paid to the 5. Yes, he got Moz, but without a plan to keep him or find someone else with a defensive-oriented mindset to eat minutes when TT had to sit. We've brought in wing guys by the buttload, but fallen down when it comes to size. You don't need it against everyone, but when you do, you really need it.

This has not hurt us as badly as it probably should have because of TT's freakish durability, but that's more luck than skill.

I agree. Mind you, I already left out the questionable contract Griffin gave Varejao, which ended up just as debilitating for roster flexibility. It's hard to know exactly how good or how bad that contract would have been if he hadn't blown out his Achilles.
 
This is excellent overall. I'd just add on the negative side that to0 little attention has been paid to the 5. Yes, he got Moz, but without a plan to keep him or find someone else with a defensive-oriented mindset to eat minutes when TT had to sit. We've brought in wing guys by the buttload, but fallen down when it comes to size. You don't need it against everyone, but when you do, you really need it.

This has not hurt us as badly as it probably should have because of TT's freakish durability, but that's more luck than skill.
All true. In his defence, how many teams have 60 million plus (Im including Lebron) tied up on front court personnel and still have this many interior defensive issues. Plus any good defensive bigman is guaranteed 15million plus in free agency. We seem to want spacing, rebounding, paint protection but may have two settle for 2 of the above three.

Imo Shump and JR shouldn't have gotten long term deals but his hand may have been forced
 
- It can be argued that Griffin unloaded too many assets early in his run as GM that would have paid dividends this year. Two first rounders for Moz looks worse when Moz is sitting on the Lakers bench and TT has tendonitis.
I was a huge proponent of the Mozgov trade for quite a while because he gave us exactly what we needed and then some...guy was an elite rim protector in the playoffs.

But two 1st-round picks (people are going to argue that it was essentially 1 because we used the other we picked up in the JR/Shump coup but I think that's splitting hairs) for 1.5 years of production (most of it underwhelming given how we mismanaged his surgery recovery) stings an awful lot. Surely there had to be somebody else out there we could have grabbed with a longer contract.

And you can't blame Griff for letting him walk when the Lakers were willing to pay him that exorbitant contract, but to have no contingency plan in place (which Birdman is not) was awfully shortsighted.

And it doesn't get mentioned enough, but that Heat 1st rounder thrown in to expedite the Love trade was just reckless. Would have been a huge asset for us.
 
All true. In his defence, how many teams have 60 million plus (Im including Lebron) tied up on front court personnel and still have this many interior defensive issues. Plus any good defensive bigman is guaranteed 15million plus in free agency.

A rim-protecting big starter might run $15M. But a backup shouldn't cost nearly that much. We haven't even really made an effort to draft a developmental guy. Again, the only reason that hasn't hurt us worse than it should have is that TT has been freakishly - and unpredictably -- durable.
 
A rim-protecting big starter might run $15M. But a backup shouldn't cost nearly that much. We haven't even really made an effort to draft a developmental guy. Again, the only reason that hasn't hurt us worse than it should have is that TT has been freakishly - and unpredictably -- durable.
Don't get me wrong he should have done better in certain areas but any semi serviceable big will likely be unretainable. Deep postseason runs is where roleplayers get showcased. Similar to how Delly got paid and he isn't even starter caliber. I don't even trust we would have been willing to pay 10 million to retain whoever this backup big would have been. If Tavares has anything closely resembling a few good games you can bet someone is throwing him an unmatchable contract.

Griffin has a tough job. We have 3 forwards earning 18 million plus but none can give us interior D except when Lebron locks in. We have 3 guard earning 10 to 20 million. None can give us playmaking.

He should have tried to get some picks through a re-sign and trade on one of Delly or Mozgov. They were to good of assets to get nothing in return for.
 
I've always wished we could pick up a developmental center with a late pick. Tavares is intriguing now that there are a few huge centers starting to have some success in the league after so many teams played without a real center in recent years. Trends do change and big centers might make a comeback at some point.
 
Don't get me wrong he should have done better in certain areas but any semi serviceable big will likely be unretainable. Deep postseason runs is where roleplayers get showcased. Similar to how Delly got paid and he isn't even starter caliber. I don't even trust we would have been willing to pay 10 million to retain whoever this backup big would have been.

Then let's say the broader criticism was Griffin misreading the market for the 2016 offseason. Everyone knew there was going to be a lot more money, so the 2015 offseason is where the GM should have been making moves to retain people for longer term.
 
I've always wished we could pick up a developmental center with a late pick. Tavares is intriguing now that there are a few huge centers starting to have some success in the league after so many teams played without a real center in recent years. Trends do change and big centers might make a comeback at some point.

I don't think Tavares stands much of a chance of being a typical low-post center on the offensive end, but he may give us enough to help us counter those teams that do have such a guy.
 
Then let's say the broader criticism was Griffin misreading the market for the 2016 offseason. Everyone knew there was going to be a lot more money, so the 2015 offseason is where the GM should have been making moves to retain people for longer term.
In hindsight the scary part is we may have been willing to let TT hit the dreaded 2016 free agent market if he didn't accept 16million. Imagine how much he would have gotten coming off that finals performance.
 
In hindsight the scary part is we may have been willing to let TT hit the dreaded 2016 free agent market if he didn't accept 16million. Imagine how much he would have gotten coming off that finals performance.

I'm convinced someone would have thrown at least 20 mill a year at him - and that might be a conservative estimate.
 
Griffin has to get it together this summer. The Cavs need a shooting guard that can shoot and create their own shot. JR and Shump are not reliable.
 
You put Griff out there with his passion -- he would get buckets and stops-- something tells me he hates everything most of these guys are about and feels----- HOODWINKED !!!!!!
 

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