A shocking move by Cavaliers chairman Dan Gilbert on Monday night added more questions to an offseason of uncertainty as Gilbert announced he will not extend the contract of general manager David Griffin.
Griffin's contract was set to expire on June 30. The architect of the 2016 NBA champions was expected back when the postseason ended on June 12, but the situation became more and more uncomfortable as days stretched on without a new deal.
According to ESPN's Marc Stein, the Cavs spent Monday trying to organize a multi-team trade for the Chicago Bulls' Jimmy Butler. Multiple sites also reported that the Cavs were contacted by the Indiana Pacers about a possible deal for four-time All-Star Paul George.
The NBA draft is Thursday, when some of the rumored deals could be struck.
In a statement, Gilbert said, "On behalf of the entire organization, I would like to thank Griff for his leadership and many contributions during his time here, including most recently, his role in the franchise's first NBA Championship.
"We have no announcement at this time related to new leadership of the Cavaliers basketball operations group, but we are confident our current front office will continue to aggressively explore and pursue opportunities to improve our team in the weeks ahead."
According to Cleveland.com, senior vice president of basketball operations Trent Redden is also out. His contract also expires on June 30.
Former Detroit Pistons star Chauncey Billups is interested in Griffin's job, Cleveland.com reported.
Under Griffin, the Cavs went to their third consecutive NBA Finals this month before falling to the Golden State Warriors in five games. He was praised as a magician by coach Tyronn Lue, but the Cavs failed to make a commitment to Griffin while wrapping up others last summer, including giving Lue a five-year, $35 million extension.
The situation put Griffin's name on candidate lists elsewhere this year, but Gilbert denied Griffin the chance to interview with other NBA teams.
The Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks were among those that reportedly considered Griffin before moving on. The Magic hired the Milwaukee Bucks' John Hammond on May 23 and the Hawks brought in Travis Schlenk, assistant GM of the Golden State Warriors the past five years, on May 25.
The Bucks remained Griffin's last possible landing spot for 2017-18 until Friday, when the Bucks settled on their director of basketball operations Jon Horst. He was officially introduced Monday.
Griffin, 47, will be highly sought after next season. Officially hired in May 2014 after serving as interim GM for the final 33 games in 2013-14 after the firing of Chris Grant, Griffin made just under $2 million last season.
Under Gilbert's direction, the Cavs have had four GMs since 2005.
Cavs star LeBron James endorsed Griffin's efforts in an interview with ESPN's Dave McMenamin for a story posted in early April.
"It makes no sense why he shouldn't get an extension," James told McMenamin. "He's tried to make every move happen _ to better this team to be able to compete for a championship. So we wouldn't be in this position, obviously, without him and without the guys that are here _ from the coaching staff to the players to Griff. He's been a big piece of it."
James speculated that Griffin remained without a long-term contract because of the presumption that James is running the team.
"Obviously they always want to bring my name into it and say that, obviously, it's easier because guys want to be here because I'm here," James told McMenamin. "But at the end of the day, he still has to press the right buttons because I'm not in the war room, I'm not in the draft room with those [front office] guys. I don't know how much we may be over the luxury tax or if we have a trade exception here or how that's going to work there or how many days we got to do this. So, it wouldn't, seriously, I don't know why it would make any sense to bring in a new GM. That don't make no sense."
Lue has spoken glowingly of Griffin on several occasions, marveling at the Cavs' acquisitions of Derrick Williams, Deron Williams, Korver and Andrew Bogut this season, although Bogut fractured his tibia 58 seconds into his debut.
"When you have a team this talented, Griff's done a helluva job," Lue said before a March 3 game in Atlanta. "To acquire D-Will 2, D-Will 1, Korver and Bogut without having any money, that's an amazing job. Every time someone goes down. ... Even last year, the year before when [Timofey Mozgov] and J.R. [Smith] and those guys came in, he just always seems to work his magic when we need it."
