Dan Gilbert Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Former GM Praises Irving, Expects Trade

August 7th, 2017 at 6:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Cavaliers GM David Griffin praised All-Star guard Kyrie Irving for the way he approached his trade request during an interview on ESPN’s The Jump show.

Griffin said Irving’s decision to make the request to owner Dan Gilbert in a private meeting took “courage” and was preferable to feigning that he was happy in Cleveland.

“The absolute worst thing this guy could have done was pretend to be all-in and sink the ship from within,” Griffin said on the show. “Most guys don’t have the courage to do what he did.”

Griffin believes Irving will be traded and that it would be better for both sides if that happens.

“I see this as him looking for a fit for himself, to take the next step in his career,” he said. “I think this is a guy who wants to know how good he can be. LeBron (James) casts a very large shadow over an organization.”

Griffin’s comments could be construed as a veiled shot at the organization, since the court of public opinion has taken Irving to task for requesting a trade from the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions. Griffin and Gilbert parted ways right before the June draft when the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract extension.

Irving’s request was made before Griffin was let go and the former GM was exploring trade options in his final days with the franchise, according to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops. A trade scenario involving the Clippers and Chris Paul was discussed, according to Amico, but those talks proved fruitless and Paul was eventually dealt to the Rockets.

Irving isn’t close to being dealt, sources told Amico.

Cavaliers Notes: James, Billups, Irving, Rose

July 27th, 2017 at 10:05am CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James‘ future after the upcoming season is a mystery even to Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, writes Marla Ridenour of The Akron Beacon Journal. Gilbert acknowledged at Wednesday’s press conference with new GM Koby Altman that the Cavs have no control over what James may decide to do in the summer of 2018. The three-year contract he signed last summer includes a player option worth more than $35.6MM for 2018/19. “I think he is very hungry for this season and he will tell you that, too,” Gilbert said. “Beyond this season I don’t know. We’re focused on this season.”

There’s more this morning out of Cleveland:

Gilbert took issue with reports that Chauncey Billups turned down a front office position because of money, Ridenour adds in the same story. Billups supposedly interviewed twice with the team about possibly replacing former GM David Griffin, but Gilbert downplayed those sessions, calling them “informal.” He also said an ESPN report that Billups pulled his name out of consideration because of a lowball salary offer of $2MM were erroneous. “It was nothing to do with money at all,” Gilbert said. “For you guys to think that we’re in this payroll tax or luxury tax to where we are and we’re going to worry about — I don’t want to ever say a million dollars or two [million] dollars or three is not a lot of money — but relatively speaking, you know our track record and that’s not how we make decisions. It had nothing to do with money.”
The refusal by Gilbert and Altman to admit that Kyrie Irving has asked for a trade was a strategy to preserve the point guard’s value, according to Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com. Pluto notes that Irving and his representatives have had several days to deny the rumor and have remained silent. The writer adds that getting sufficient value in return for Irving is the biggest challenge facing Altman as he settles into his new job.
The Cavaliers have made attempts to reach out to Irving, but he doesn’t want to talk to anyone from the team, according to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic (subscrition site).
Derrick Rose hoped to sign with the Spurs or Clippers when free agency began, but both teams passed on him, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Bucks coach Jason Kidd was interested, but the only offers came from the Lakers and Cavaliers.

Cavaliers Notes: Griffin, Luxury Tax, Rabb

June 23rd, 2017 at 9:28pm CST by Austin Kent

Former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin wanted more autonomy when it came to managing his team’s roster, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com says. The scribe responded to a question about Griffin’s recent exit in a mailbag with readers.

Per Vardon, franchise owner Dan Gilbert had a tendency to get in the way of trades and contracts and the philosophical differences between the two parties were evident.

Vardon confirms that Griffin was also seeking a significant raise but doesn’t suspect that any negotiations even reached that far considering that they didn’t appear to be on the same page to begin with.

The $2MM reduction in payroll room the league hinted at with its latest salary cap projection could cost the Cavaliers as much as $10MM in luxury tax damage, Jeff Zilgitt of USA Today writes. The Cavs will be hit with the repeater tax in 2017/18.
The Cavaliers had a deal on the table to acquire the 34th pick in the draft last night with the intention of drafting Ivan Rabb, Marc Spears of ESPN tweets. Rabb ultimately went 35th overall.
The Cavaliers could look to add Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, writes Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. While the scenario sounds, and probably is, farfetched, Vardon suggests that their personal ties to LeBron James could land them in Ohio if they are ultimately bought out by their respective clubs.

Cavs, GM Griffin Part Ways; Gilbert Eyes Billups

June 21st, 2017 at 12:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JUNE 21, 12:15pm: Billups has a second meeting with the Cavaliers today, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.

JUNE 19, 10:59pm: Billups will meet with Gilbert on Tuesday, Windhorst tweets.

8:41pm: Billups is the top target to become President of Basketball Operations, Wojnarowski tweets.

7:59pm: Gilbert didn’t consult with LeBron James on the decision to let Griffin leave, even though James stated Griffin should receive an extension, Windhorst tweets.

7:01pm: GM David Griffin and the Cavaliers will part ways, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com tweets. Griffin, whose contract expires at the end of the month, was unable to reach an agreement for an extension. The club has issued a statement confirming that the two parties have mutually agreed that Griffin won’t remain with the organization, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press tweets.

Griffin, who was making less than $2MM annually, met with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert last week. But the two sides were unable to come to terms. Griffin removed himself from consideration when it was clear that he and Gilbert weren’t on the same page regarding the team’s future plans, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets.

Former NBA Finals MVP Chauncey Billups, currently a commentator with ESPN, is expected to emerge as a candidate, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets. Billups is a close friend of Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue, which might help Billups’ candidacy. Billups also has a relationship with Gilbert and will also be considered for the title of President of Basketball Operations, who will hire the GM, Wojnarowski adds in another tweet.

Griffin won’t be lacking for job offers as multiple teams will pursue him during the next round of GM openings, according to Wojnarowski. Trade talks were being hampered because of Griffin’s iffy status, Wojnarowski adds. (Twitter links).

Assistant GM Trent Redden is also losing his job, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets.

The Cavs are pursuing complex blockbuster deals for either Pacers swingman Paul George and the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler. Griffin’s departure in the short run could hamper those efforts as Gilbert searches for Griffin’s replacement.

Community Shootaround: Communication Between Owner And Star Player

June 20th, 2017 at 4:02pm CST by Joshua Fischman

On Monday, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert parted ways with GM David Griffin, who was up for an extension. Griffin had been instrumental in bringing the Cavaliers’ star player, LeBron James, back to Cleveland. The executive also built a championship team by shrewdly trading for Kevin Love and cleverly filling out the Cavaliers roster over the years with key ancillary players like Kyle Korver, Deron Williams, Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Channing Frye. He did all of this with creativity under considerable budgetary constraints. Unsurprisingly, James had long been an outspoken advocate for Griffin to continue at his GM post. According to Brian Windhorst, LBJ was not notified before Gilbert decided to let Griffin go (link via Twitter). Naturally, this seemed to upset James (link via Twitter).

Should Gilbert have consulted LeBron before getting rid of LBJ’s guy? Is it prudent for an owner to do what he can to make his superstar, who is arguably the best player of all-time, happy? LeBron James left Cleveland once before. Could behavior like this from the owner fuel LBJ’s already potentially wandering eye? Conversely, do you believe that players need not be involved in front office decisions like this one? Should players be divorced from personnel decisions?

We would love to see your thoughts reflected in the comments section.

Cavs Rumors: Griffin, LeBron, Butler, Love, Irving

June 20th, 2017 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of David Griffin‘s departure from the Cavaliers, rumors have been swirling about the circumstances that led the two sides to part ways, the deals Griffin was pursuing while he was still employed, and what the Cavs may do now that he’s gone.

We have a ton of Cavs rumors to pass along, so we’ll break them down into sections, focusing on Griffin, the front office, and trade-related reports…

David Griffin:

Griffin had become pessimistic about his future in Cleveland during the last few months of the 2016/17 season, and had kept an eye on other job openings around the NBA, according to Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. The ESPN duo suggests Griffin expressed interest in the Magic and Bucks jobs through back-channels, but wasn’t given permission to speak to those teams by owner Dan Gilbert.
According to Windhorst and McMenamin, Gilbert occasionally inserted himself into trade talks during Griffin’s tenure as GM, calling another team’s owner directly and derailing Griffin’s plans.
Gilbert and Griffin had a long meeting last Friday, which didn’t go well, per Windhorst and McMenamin. Griffin wanted a significant pay raise and a promotion, while Gilbert wanted better communication and more aggression from his GM.
LeBron James was “disappointed” by Griffin’s departure, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link). LeBron suggested as much on his own Twitter account, telling Griffin that he appreciated his work for the franchise even if “no one” else did.
Griffin was among the NBA’s lowest-paid general managers, per Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Previous reports indicated that Griffin was making less than $2MM per year.

Front office:

League sources tell ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter link) that former Bucks assistant GM Justin Zanik would be a strong candidate to work in the Cavaliers‘ front office if Chauncey Billups is hired. Zanik left Milwaukee this week after the team passed him over for a GM promotion.
LeBron is keeping an open mind about the Cavaliers‘ front office shakeup, according to David Aldridge, who tweets that James is “very serious about structure” and wants to see who the team brings in.

Trade rumors:

On Monday, Griffin called several teams about possible trades and told the Bulls he might be able to land a top-five pick if they were willing to trade Jimmy Butler, per Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. According to the ESPN duo, the Cavaliers were making an effort to work out a three-team trade involving Kevin Love and the Suns‘ No. 4 overall pick.
Even after Griffin’s departure, talks involving Love remain ongoing and the Cavaliers continue to gauge the status of Jimmy Butler, says Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net (Twitter links).
Some Cavaliers players, including LeBron and Kyrie Irving, have reached out to Butler directly to gauge his interest in coming to the Cavs, and those players were encouraged by what they heard, Cleveland sources tell Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. One source tells Cowley that Butler may even push the Bulls front office to get a deal done, though as Cowley notes, that would be a major departure for Butler, who has talked about wanting to remain in Chicago.
Multiple teams have spoken to the Cavaliers about Irving, according to Amico, who adds (via Twitter) that Griffin was unwilling to move the star point guard. Cowley notes in his report that Irving has told some of his Team USA teammates that he might be open to a trade if it starts to look like LeBron will leave in 2018, and the Bulls are one team he’d be interested in. I’m extremely skeptical about the idea of an Irving trade — I think things would have to really go downhill in Cleveland following Griffin’s dismissal for that to be a realistic option.

Magic Await Permission To Talk To David Griffin

May 16th, 2017 at 10:21am CST by Arthur Hill

The Magic have submitted a formal request to the Cavaliers to speak with GM David Griffin, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Griffin is believed to be the front-runner to become Orlando’s president of basketball operations, with a report last month saying he will be offered the job when he becomes available.

The Cavaliers have not responded to the request, Wojnarowski adds, and have the option of holding onto Griffin until his contract expires at the end of June. With free agency starting July 1st, it’s possible that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert will deny the interview request as a stall tactic to see if Orlando turns to someone else.

Sources tell Wojnarowski that Gilbert hasn’t made a substantive offer to try to keep Griffin, who built the Cavaliers into a championship team after LeBron James returned in 2014. James has been an outspoken advocate of keeping the GM, but his public comments seem to have had little effect on negotiations.

The Magic are getting ready to start interviewing other candidates for the position, including Hall of Famer Kevin McHale and Bucks GM John Hammond, who still has a year left on his contract in Milwaukee. Interim Magic GM Matt Lloyd has already been through the interview process and is highly thought of in the organization, according to Wojnarowski.

Orlando launched a front-office shakeup when the season ended, firing GM Rob Hennigan and assistant GM Scott Perry. The Magic plan to put control of the front office in the hands of a president, who will then hire the next GM.

The team faces competition from the Hawks, who recently relieved Wes Wilcox of GM duties. Griffin is seen as a candidate in Atlanta, along with former Pistons executive Joe Dumars, Rockets VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, Knicks director of player personnel Mark Hughes and former players and current TV analysts Chauncey Billups and Brent Barry. Wojnarowski reports that the Hawks have received permission to interview Rosas and Hughes.

LeBron Turns Up Support For David Griffin

May 4th, 2017 at 1:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

LeBron James continues to express support for Cavaliers GM David Griffin, whose contract will expire after the playoffs, writes Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.

A source said that when James left the practice floor Tuesday, he asked why Griffin “wouldn’t be able to get a new contract.” James didn’t direct the question to anyone, but said it loudly enough to make sure it would be heard.

Sources tell Amico that James has been dropping regular hints about Griffin to team officials, but he doesn’t plan to meet with owner Dan Gilbert to discuss the situation.

Gilbert reportedly finds James’ support for Griffin admirable, and nobody in the organization considers the statements to be a distraction.

However, there’s no evidence that James is making a difference. Someone Amico describes as a “dialed-in source” says the current relationship between Griffin and ownership is “not good” and the GM may not be re-signed this summer.

The Cavs were unable to reach an extension with Griffin last summer, setting up a free agent situation where he is free to join another organization once Cleveland’s playoff run ends. Griffin is reportedly the front-runner to become team president in Orlando.

Cavaliers Willing To Increase Payroll

February 14th, 2017 at 9:38pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Ownership has told the Cavs’ front office that it can increase payroll this season, a source tells Sam Amico of Amico Hoops (Twitter link). Cleveland currently has the highest payroll in league history, even after shipping Chris Andersen to the Hornets.

Amico adds that Cleveland is in trades discussions with several other teams, but he did not provide specifics. The Cavs are expected to be without Kevin Love for the next six weeks, so the team could consider adding a big man, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors wrote earlier today.

LeBron James was critical of the team’s ownership earlier this season and at the time, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that the tension between the two sides was a result of the different viewpoints on team spending.

Part of the reason James returned to Cleveland in 2014 was the Cavs’ willingness to spend on talent, regardless of luxury tax repercussions, and owner Dan Gilbert reportedly agreed not to limit the team’s spending when James put pen to paper.

The Cavs currently have nearly $126.6MM in contracts on the books this season, as our Salary Cap Snapshot for the Cavs shows. That figure is roughly $13.4MM over the luxury tax line and the team is projected to pay slightly under $24.8MM in luxury tax penalties.

LeBron James, Cavs At Odds Over Team Payroll

January 26th, 2017 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers general manager David Griffin and superstar forward LeBron James have gone back and forth this month, making public comments about what the team’s roster does and doesn’t need. Most recently, James publicly called for the Cavs to add a “playmaker” to their roster, with Griffin responding by chiding the Finals MVP for his comments.

According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, however, James’ frustration with the Cavaliers’ leadership group goes above Griffin. Windhorst reports that there is tension between James and Cavs ownership about the team’s payroll spending, with sources tell Windhorst that the relationship between LeBron and owner Dan Gilbert has been “strained” due to their different viewpoints on the issue of team salary.

When James was considering a return to Cleveland in 2014, the Cavs’ willingness to spend unconditionally on talent, regardless of the luxury-tax bill, was a major factor, according to Windhorst, who reports that LeBron signed on with the team after Gilbert agreed not to limit his spending. Since then, Cleveland has had a higher bill for team salary and the luxury tax than any other NBA team, but James has grown frustrated with what he perceives to be slowed spending this season, in the wake of the Cavs’ first title.

The Cavaliers allowed rotation players like Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov to depart in free agency this past summer, but committed approximately $57MM to a long-term deal for J.R. Smith, not to mention signing James himself to a deal worth nearly $100MM over three years. More recently, the club managed to acquire Kyle Korver in a trade with the Hawks while simultaneously reducing team salary.

James’ recent comments about not wanting the team to become complacent angered Gilbert, since they seemed to imply that the organization was making a conscious choice not to get better, sources tell Windhorst. For his part, Griffin insists that money is no object for the Cavs, if the right deal presents itself.

“We can absolutely increase payroll if it’s the right piece at the right time. I’ve never once been given a mandate of any kind relative to money,” Griffin said. “We’re not going to do something where we go ask for more money unless we believe it makes us appreciably better. … As we have all along, ownership will do what needs to be done.”

In 2015/16, the Cavs paid $107MM in team salary and $54MM in luxury tax. Those numbers are currently at about $127MM+ and $27MM+ for the 2016/17 season, as our Salary Cap Snapshot for the Cavs shows. Signing a player to their roster to fill their open 15th spot would cost the Cavs about $2.50 in luxury tax penalties for every dollar they spend. The team is also close to going $15MM over the luxury tax line ($113.287MM), in which case that penalty would increase to $3.25 per extra dollar spent.