So according to Pelton, Myers won this year pretty much before the season even started? Seems like an odd argument.
That said, GMs sometimes get too much credit for improving their team in the shortrun while burning long term assets.
Griffin did a bit of this, of course. I still can't understand why he had to give up 3 assets to dump Jack, who wasn't really on a bad contract.
Zeller could have helped this year. But Karasev? Doubt he would have played. Jack had to go though.
I think because people, even those who follow such things closely, still aren't entirely sure what Griffin did this off-season, it's hard to judge him properly.
He traded away 2nd round picks for the next 5 years or whatever, plus Zeller and the 2016 first, and got Haywood and the trade exception, as well as the capspace to sign LeBron (and Joe Harris).
The trade exception (plus the Andy DPE) was absolutely crucial in that it allowed him to add Moz, Shump, and JR. I was critical about giving up all the 2nd rounders, and thought he could have built his depth in a less "creative" way, but Griff deserves a lot of credit for devising a strategy, identifying a player (Moz was always the target), and actually landing him. Well done.
The Moz, Shump, JR trade was A++. May be the best trade in team history under the circumstances. I don't think he predicted how well JR would fit -- some in the FO were said to be against it -- but he rolled the dice and won big -- till the JR suspension anyway.
Myers did one big thing that won him gm of the year, hired Kerr and the rest of the coaching staff. He also had no questionable moves.
Griffin on the other hand made one or two good trades. The rest were questionable and had possible negative impact on the team in the present and future. Love is up in the air and could go down as one of the worse trades in NBA history. The salary dump trade had more present day negative effects on the team, any one of the assets given up would of help the team now in rotation or with another trade. Griffins one good trade was driven because he gave up assets like a fire sale earlier in the year. Shump was given to take JR. The first was needed to get mozgov. This team lacks depth, Dion, karasev, Zeller, or even Jarret jack could of helped. The first round pick could of been used to get another player. Even the 2nd round picks to get the corps of Haywood could of been used for someone like Cory brewer.
I think every GM in the league does the Love trade. Wiggins wasn't ready this year to play a significant role in the playoffs for a team with championship ambitions.
I just don't know what to say about this one. Once you get LeBron back, you are pretty much bound to try to win now. A perennial all star was on the market. You had the assets to get that player. The assets you surrender weren't going to have a significant effect on your team's performance for that year and maybe the next.
Wiggins did improve as the year went on. I personally don't see him as an elite player. An All Star, yes. I am not alone in my opinion. I readily admit I could be wrong.
The trade did serve as salary dump for Bennett. Some on RCF actually wanted to keep him over TT.
Salary dump deal had to happen. The actual deal to Boston may have been driven by ownership, presumably out of panic, but unfortunately for Griff he has to take the blame/credit, as Grant did before him.
Jack could not be kept. He needed to go to create the requisite capspace.
Dion was, at a minimum, a horrible fit (which Griff should have realized, but then he lucked into the in-season trade). Addition by subtraction, which I said in this forum at the time of the Dion trade.
Not having the 2nd round picks had an opportunity cost -- Cavs didn't have wherewithal to get Corey Brewer or Mo Williams. But having Smith/Shump was far, far better than Brewer/Waiters. Griff did well not to panic, when many on RCF were saying he should have.
He didn't use Haywood's contact at the deadline to shore up the bench. No doubt it hurt not having another 2nd rounder or two to throw in a deal. But retaining Haywood gives them more flexibility and a backup plan for this summer.
I supported the Miller and Marion signings. Marion helped at the beginning of the year when the wings were so dreadful. But both players were disappointments.
Anything they got from James Jones was a plus. He had hardly played in years.
At least having Miller and Jones around ensured there wasn't a full-fledged mutiny on this team in the dark days of early January. Plus the FA options were getting thin when the Cavs got into the market, due to LeBron's delay in making his announcement. Still, I said at the time I would have signed Aminu, who was steal for Dallas, and Ellington, a useful player for the Lakers. Both were minimum signings. But these are small gripes, really.
His draft, outside of Wiggins, was uneventful. Had he landed KJ McDaniels (taken one pick before Harris), it would look great. I think McDaniels would have seen minutes on this team. Joe Harris' grade is an incomplete. Dwight Powell is still in the league. Of the players selected after Harris, Jordan Clarkson showed the most, but would he have made it on the court for the Cavs?
Griff's year wasn't perfect, he had a lot of tremendously good luck, and some of what he did was open to second guessing, but on the whole I thought he did a very good job.
