The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Griffin says Cavs must ‘get better from within’
LeBron James on Jan. 23 publicly challenged management to make the Cavaliers better. On Jan. 25, general manager David Griffin publicly responded.
“The thing we have to do the most is get better from within,” Griffin said during an impromptu news conference before the Cavs played the Sacramento Kings. “This is the team we have, and we really like this team a lot. We believe in this team at a deep level and we need to get better from within and play better, quite frankly.
“We need to have a greater sense of urgency and start to develop a championship identity. I think it’s clear we have not been doing that.”
James expressed a need for “a (expletive) playmaker” while being interviewed by reporters after the Cavs lost, 124-122, to the Pelicans in New Orleans. He said he’ll be 33 next winter (Dec. 30) and that he “doesn’t have time to waste.” He also said “It’s been a (bleep-y) year so far in 2017.”
The Cavs lost five of seven games before facing the Kings.
Griffin spoke to James privately on Jan. 25 but chose not to share the conversation with reporters. James’ rant “certainly wasn’t appropriate from a teammate perspective. But, it is what it is,” Griffin said.
The comment from James that irritated Griffin most, though, was this:
“I just hope that we’re not satisfied as an organization.”
The Cavaliers won their first NBA championship last June by beating Golden State in seven games after losing to the Warriors in the 2015 Finals.
“The comment about the organization being complacent I think is really misguided,” Griffin said. “Organizationally there is absolutely no lack of clarity on what our goal set is. We are here to win championships, and there is no other solution. There is no other outcome that is acceptable and there never has been. But in terms of the onthe-court complacency, I’ve seen a lot of that.
“Now having said that, I don’t think LeBron said that that’s not what we’re about. I think that’s people’s interpretation of what he said. But yeah, anyone insinuating that this organization is about anything other than that would deeply upset me because ownership has invested in this at an absolutely historic level.”
The trade deadline in the NBA is Feb. 23. Griffin said he might keep the roster as it is or he might make a move for a point guard or a defender inside. And if it means adding to the payroll that at $127.6 million is already the highest in the league, Griffin says he has owner Dan Gilbert’s blessing.
“We can absolutely increase payroll if it’s the right piece at the right time,” Griffin said. “I’ve never once been given a mandate of any kind relative to money. It’s something we take on ourselves because we’re running such an enormous (luxury) tax number ($27 million).
“We’re not going to do something where we go ask for more money unless we believe it makes us appreciably better. We’re not going to spend it to spend it, but as we have all along, ownership will do what needs to be done.”
Despite their recent woes, the Cavaliers, 30-13, still had a three-game lead over Toronto in the NBA East going into games Jan. 25.
“We’re not good from the front,” Griffin said. “We’re much better when we’re the hunter. I see us every year put ourselves in position to have to fight out of something. It’s what we’ve done as a team and it’s hard for me to tell you we’re dealing with a lot of adversity when we’re No. 1 in the East. But we have a tendency to be our best when our backs are against the wall so I have no reason to believe that won’t be true now.”