The Cavaliers were unable to reach an agreement with Chauncey Billups to make the former point guard their new president of basketball operations and Marc J. Spears and Chris Haynes of ESPN.com report that a deal never consummated in part because the team gave Billups a low-ball offer.
Cleveland reportedly initially offered Billups an annual salary of $1.5MM. League sources tell the pair of ESPN scribes that $4MM is viewed as the typical starting point in negotiations for that type of role. The Cavs eventually raised the offer to $2MM per season, though it wasn’t enough to entice the 40-year-old. Koby Altman, who is the Cavs’ assistant GM, is currently in charge of team president responsibilities.
Billups has no prior experience on the management side, but he is considered around the league as a “future front-office star.” He recently said that he intends to pursue a front office role at some point in the future.
Nothing says “We trust you to lead our organization into the future” like a below-market deal. Total hack move by Dan Gilbert.
He isn’t qualified for this job to begin with so how can he be low balled?
Dan Gilbert will lose LeBron again. Make another ridiculous public statement and b wrong again. Then LeBron will come back at the very end of his career and Gilbert will kiss his ass again. And look dumb again.
It’s pretty obvious that Dan Gilbert went into this with a complete lack of a plan, which is really sad because if Billups was his top choice all along, then he had the chance to get him and blew it.
On the fence here, as Dan Gilbert now has a track record of lowballing. But, Billups would be a rookie in this role, so if any GM is going to get underpaid, it’s one with no experience. Then again, that’s probably why Gilbert wanted him – he’d potentially be cheap.
Dan Gilbert is a schmuck! He basically let his GM go over money and blew this deal with Billups for low balling. So they are going through all the off season stuff without a GM. Meanwhile Lebron is sitting back plotting his exit next offseason. What a joke.
Griffin didn’t leave due to a lack of money. It was never brought up.
He did and it was brought up.
Griffin left bc a difference in philosophy or how the team should be run. Period. O money was discussed.
In fact. Griffin was paid just under 2 million in this past season. But the reason Griff didn’t want to stay and Gilbert was fine in letting him go was Gilbert wanted to go in a different direction than what Griff wanted.
There were articles run about this where it was specifically stated that Griffin was not satisfied with his compensation. He was basically getting paid half of what the league standard is for a GM. So you are misinformed.
No, he just wanted more money. He admitted it himself.
Cavs and Celts SMH both franchise never deserve respect
I applaud Hoopshype for going into specifics about such an esoteric subject (Market value of NBA gm)
By the way Rumor has it ESPN gave Billups a raise so he’d stay
It was a combination of Gilbert being cheap (because Billups is unproven?) and ESPN paying him more that led him to decline the Cavs GM job.
I think he actually gets paid more at ESPN- much easier job than the Cavs GM position.
Magic is a rookie President, and he got 7 million a year to run the Lakers. Clearly MJ has more street cred, but come on Dan, $1.5. He won’t find any talented people with those types of numbers. I’m sure if the Knicks hire Griffin, he will get paid!!!
As much admiration that I had for Gilbert for doing what it took financially to bring a contending team to Cleveland, I now have disdain. A man who has the means to put forth a first class organization from top to bottom and then chooses to turn his back on the very man that assembled a World Championship team, is beyond infuriating. It’s like paying for a car that had all the bells and whistles, top notch amenities and a dream top notch drive chain then won’t pay for a BMW to put it all in. Instead he wants to put it all in a Yugo. Now a top notch GM will settle on nicely elsewhere and Gilbert’s first choice in Billups basically tells him, ” You got to be shitting me!” Plus the reputation of the Cavs and the city of Cleveland went straight to hell. After years of watching inept and miserly owners running the Indians and Art Modell single handed ruin a legacy based Browns franchise, I thought we had the blessing of a man that was an example of excellence. But he shows his true colors. Good luck getting a quality executive to come here.