David Griffin Cashes in His Chips to Assemble Cleveland Cavaliers 2.0

CLEVELAND — The timing wasn't ideal, but that was actually appropriate for the occasion. The timing, when it comes to NBA transactions, approvals or announcements, rarely is as anyone would imagine or prefer.

And so here David Griffin was, during halftime of a game against the West-contending Houston Rockets, at nearly the halfway point of an unexpectedly rocky Cavaliers regular season, sitting behind a microphone at a podium in a makeshift event-level space enclosed by a garage door."We looked at this, and we felt that if we could identify three of our biggest holes, which we identified as consistent outside shooting that didn't necessarily need the ball, in the form of J.R. [Smith]; a wing defender, in the form of Iman [Shumpert]; and a starting-caliber center with the length and defensive identity of [Timofey] Mozgov," said Griffin, who acknowledged that the early-season roster lacked grit, toughness and intensity."We would have done all of these things much sooner if we could've," Griffin said. "We're fortunate that 35 games in for us, and 30-40 in for everybody else, people have now gotten to the point where they recognize the team they're going to be. If we could have done this in training camp, we would hav
e done the same thing."In training camp, though, no one inside or outside the Cavaliers organization expected this team, with three All-Stars combining to play 97 (of a possible 108) games, would be 19-17, stuck in the East's fifth spot, closer to eighth than fourth.

So this update—so much more than merely a patch—better work, because there won't be a version 3.0 anytime soon.

That's the primary takeaway from a whirlwind three days, in which the Cavaliers lost two games, one embarrassing (in Philadelphia) and one expected (at home to Rockets); traded three players, only one of which was anywhere near the rotation; and acquired three others, only one of which was immediately available for Wednesday's defeat, and none of which made a shot.

"I look at this deal as really one deal in aggregate," Griffin said, though he actually consummated them at different times, and with a total of three different teams.

And that is an accurate portrayal, since the most necessary piece (Mozgov) was actually acquired last, by adding a protected first-round pick from Oklahoma City to the pre-existing protected first-round pick from Memphis that hadn't been enough to appease Denver Nuggets officials.

But, actually, you can go back further, back to the summer, back to the day after the draft and the day prior to LeBron James' return, and now examine all of the Cavaliers' deals since the summer in aggregate, since everything they did before has led to the way they look now. This is likely how things will be for a while. Entering this summer, the Cavaliers had a plethora of assets that Griffin had helped assemble, either as Chris Grant's deputy or from the point last February that he ascended, on an interim basis, to the top spot. Some of those assets were due to four years of poor play, some to dumb lottery luck and some to smart and subtle planning.

Griffin characterized his philosophy this way Wednesday: "If you can stack up enough assets during the time that you're not really in the mode of win-the-championship-now, when you get to the point where you add a LeBron James and you have the opportunity to get a Kevin Love to pair with Kyrie [Irving], you feel like you've got the core that can do something."

Since July 1, Griffin has now unloaded many of the assets at his disposal, including two former No. 1 overall picks (Anthony Bennett and Rookie of the Year favorite Andrew Wiggins); two other first-round picks (Tyler Zeller and Sergey Karasev, in a late move to dump Jarrett Jack and clear enough space for James); Cleveland's 2016 protected first-round pick (along with Zeller and Karasev); a former No. 4 overall pick (Dion Waiters); and the protected Memphis pick (which Grant acquired in exchange for getting the Memphis Grizzlies under the luxury tax).


Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2322593-david-griffin-cashes-in-his-chips-to-assemble-cleveland-cavaliers-20