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.
Well, it’s fine and dandy that Griffin thinks he will be traded but to who? No one seems to want to give up anything.
I still think the Sixers should jump in, but I just don’t see it.
Honestly, I don’t see anyone giving the Cavs what they want.
Cp3 for Irving would have been beneficial to both sides. Instead clippers got spare parts for a hof player, not a clippers fan btw.
But that’s almost better because it allowed them to fill out their bench with some quality players, and they have been lacking depth in recent years. And it was one year of Paul who is likely leaving anyways, and they added a first rounder. I liked that deal.
same, i think the clips did very well this offseason. from a player standpoint as well as an organizational standpoint. demoting doc, fixing some chemistry issues etc etc. i dont expect them to fall too far off.
Beverly vs Paul head to head should be entertaining! I agree LAC should be okay.
That dirty water has turned your brain to mush, hasn’t it? Depth is the key, right? The Celtics are “so deep” and Lebron is still going to humiliate them (again) in the playoffs. Then what’ll it be? “The rebuild isn’t complete yet.” I get it… LeBron has to retire for it to be complete. Trading a star for the kind of depth the commenters here posit is always a losing gambit. You know this from when your team was given Garnett.
Please keep in mind, Paul was a FA w/ a player option. He did an absolute favor to the Clips, and Houston obliged, allowing them to do a sign-and-trade and get something in return. They didn’t get much but Paul could’ve made it much worse. At least this way they got two guards who can help replace Paul and Redding. Houston’s benefit was to transfer some contracts that maybe they would’ve liked to move or maybe needed to move to facilitate the trade.
Griffin is generally right about Irving but I doubt he made much of an effort to trade him even though he knew Irving wanted out. In dealing for George, Butler, etc, teams asked about Irving but were offered Love. That is probably why Griffin was not recontracted– he wasnt bold enough for Gilbert. At one point in the aftermath Gilbert said as much.
Griffin relied on a personal relationship with Irving. This thing with the Clips is a deflection… they were ready to deal.
Nah, it was the money. Gilbert wasn’t going to pay Griff $8m what you can pay Altman or some other guy 1/4 as much to do. He knows LeBron is the reason for his jackpot success. Ride it while you can.
Wow….I came to that same conclusion and my buddys think I’m crazy. I’ve heard numerous stories that Griffin had a personal relationship with Irving and James. I heard the issue that Gilbert had with Griffin was the fact that he didn’t push back a bit more with regards to Tristan and JR’s FA negotiations. Both are clients of agent Rich Paul who is LBJ’s agent and partner in other businesses. In essence, LBJ’s company (not on paper right now because that would be a conflict) are agent for those 2 and a few other NBA players. Both held out and didn’t sign until camp started. Both had a limited market and the Cavs had been reported on having the best offer for either. They ended up bidding against themselves and overpaid for both because of pressure from LBJ. He also felt that Griffin was too willing to trade Irving when Irving brought the issue up again to Griffin earlier this summer. I heard Gilbert was against it and felt Griffin wasn’t trying hard enough to convince Irving to stay. Gilbert wanted a more “front office” leaning GM and Griffin didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of a Irving/James/Ownership drama if Irving wasn’t traded.
It;s so silly to think ppl believe a story of a GM who is willing to pay $70 in luxury tax on TOP of the highest NBA team payroll ever but would let a highly regarded GM of 3 Finals team over a couple of million. I think the leaked reports of Griffins reason for leaving over money were to obfuscate the real reason he was leaving, the Irving trade demand.
meant ” of a owner who is willing to pay $70 in luxury tax on…..”
Yes the personalities matter, but I was drawing a very different picture.
IMO, Griffin is pro-Irving, and wanted to keep Irving on the Cavs to benefit the strength of his own position as being key to a key asset. This, despite Irving both wanting out, AND being the only piece that could bring in George, Paul or (not Ringo but) Butler. Instead Love was offered to no success. I doubt Irving was offered for Paul because that would have led to something.
(To be fair, if Griffin was reluctant to deal Irving truly because he thought the Cavs would decline if Irving was traded, he would not be the only one.)
Griffin and Irving formed a bond over Griffin keeping Irving engaged with the Cav’s fortunes even though he wanted to leave following the 2016 title. In an organization that tends to fire GMs, being crucial to a key player would benefit Griffin. However, to speculate, that backfired when Gilbert thought Griffin put his own interests first. And to be fair to Gilbert, after ‘The Leak’, it seems like trading Irving should have been the priority.
Maybe Gilbert is the leaker!
This is all rumormongering of course but… “hoopsrumors”
Yeah…courage.
I think the message I’m taking away from all of this is that LeBron’s ego is only tolerable when you win the championship at the end of the year.
Which can be said of pretty much every great NBA player, save a few exceptions.
Send his ass to the bucks for Monroe and a couple of other players