The Cleveland Cavaliers are at a major crossroads and have to decide how they are going to handle the future. Will they go all-in while they have LeBron James, giving up assets and future draft picks in order to assemble a roster better suited to beat the Golden State Warriors? Or will they stick with the team they have moving forward, so that they’re still in decent shape if/when LeBron leaves or begins declining?
It’s a difficult philosophical question that may have been at the heart of the dispute between GM David Griffin and owner Dan Gilbert, leading to the former’s departure from the organization.
Sam Amico, who has been all over the Cavaliers story, says the belief is that Griffin wanted to go all-in while Gilbert wanted to hedge so the team was still in decent shape if when LeBron leaves again.
Some unhappy, but belief within organization is Gilbert trying to keep #Cavs a contender while avoiding dumpster fire should LBJ leave again
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) June 20, 2017
It’s not a certainty that this was the stance of each man, but it’s one theory for now. And the abrupt change in the front office on Monday seems to indicate the two were disagreeing about something, so that certainly makes sense (compensation may have been another issue).
The reality is the Cavs as presently constructed are not good enough to beat the Warriors. Maybe Griffin recognized that and wanted to bring in some more versatile players who could better hang with Golden State, such as Paul George and/or Jimmy Butler. Maybe Gilbert thought his team was good enough as is and wanted to keep the team together as they have it, so at least they’d still have Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love and draft picks even if LeBron left.
The question is how badly you want the real chance to win another championship or two while you have LeBron. Maybe Gilbert didn’t value that as much as LeBron and Griffin do/did.
