If you think people aren't going to be thinking back to that massive trade you are crazy. We traded 2 number one draft picks for someone. Regardless if we win or not, the trade will be under a microscope by Cavs fans for the next 15 years.
There's nothing wrong with questioning the front office's decisions. We don't have to blindly follow everything Griffin does and accept it as the word of God.
(sorry in advance for bringing up old topics... I was MIA for 2+ weeks...)
(and WARNING: long post)
Just as an aside, Lyst... there are some examples of teams selling the farm for success.
I recall a certain 2 deals made in 2008 that led to the Celtics' mini-run. It was just enough to convince most of the league to follow the same protocol (Lakers get older-brother Gasol same year, Cavs go for several poor-man's stars, the Heat go for those free agent signings-turned-into-trades, the Lakers go for Howard, and us).
If we use this as a table for measuring regret, there's 6 examples right here, 3 that got championships out of it, and 1 that hasn't even tried yet (pretty much looking like a greater than 60% chance of that ultimate goal).
I'm pretty certain the Celtics don't care that it was about 4 or 5 years. They got one out of it and tend to lean on that history anyways. More than that, I'm sure the Timberwolves and Sonics-turned-Thunder really weren't able to do much until they needed their own reboots. Even with Durant, they couldn't beat the Heat. And the Wolves no longer have Jefferson for their youth project they have consistently been using. They got close to the playoffs but let's face it, the competition in the West is mind-boggling.
Let's try the next one... the Lakers were able to make a deal because they had some ammo to fall back on, but it was the difference maker from 2008-2010. But they lost a couple of "assets", with only one still competing in the league. Marc Gasol helped make the Grizzlies a constant playoff contender, but that window seems steep. The only reason they're still in it is because of having that burly 7 foot Spaniard. Meanwhile, the Lakers are also notorious for historical success, they don't care about that 3 year window with 2 championships being a short-lived window.
We know about the Cavs deals with Mo and with Shaq. It's hard to say it would even matter (or if these deals should even be considered with the framework of the transactions), but there's no question we were close. But we mostly got has-beens and rejects that were improvements over the garbage we dealt. Personally, I would consider it the best period to this point as most would. But they were mostly "capitalizing" deals. Can't say they count.
What about the Heat? Didn't they technically mortgage the future for the old "win-now" slogan? They dealt everybody away before they finally got their salary cap space for the superstars. And most of them weren't exactly the greatest of the great (they even dealt their remaining assets to the Cavs and Raptors in draft picks). After an 8-14 start, they sure loved making the finals 4 times with 2 banners, didn't they?
The Lakers tried to make it work as well, but because of the lack of resources (a couple of coaches who failed miserably, no real trade assets, an imperfect team) and a clock that ran out inevitably for Kobe made the Howard deal moot. Wonder how far they might've made it if Howard wasn't so obnoxious and if Phil wasn't a quitter...?
The last significant one was the one that hasn't been tried yet, the LBJ-Love-Kyrie tandem. I've learned from 2009 not to expect the end goal to be had, because anything can happen. But the same can be applied to our "friends" from the New England and Southeast Florida channels. Since Love and Kyrie are heading into their primes (and LeBron is still there for a few years), I tend to have a little faith. There might be a little wait, but just getting one championship will last us a decade, even if Wiggins and Bennett work out for the Wolves in the wonderfully competitive conference.
Again, 2 1st overall picks in a somewhat meager couple of drafts isn't exactly a formula for success. I mean, we still have a first overall pick and 2 top five picks to guide us, with that theory. Be careful with what you assume. Most of what we want in today's league is wins, not potential-that-might-become-gold.