The Atlanta Hawks are reshaping their front office. David Griffin has emerged as a name that the team will look into. How would he fit? And is he obtainable?
The Atlanta Hawks have made some big changes in the structure of their front office.
With Mike Budenholzer stepping down from his role as president of basketball operations, and Wes Wilcox moving away from his general manager role, the Hawks are in search of a new man to call the shots in the front office.
One of the names that have emerged? Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin.
League sources say Joe Dumars and David Griffin are expected to emerge as candidates in the Hawks' search for a new lead front-office voice
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 5, 2017
Griffin has been the general manager of the Cavs since 2014 and has been at the helm for the greatest years in Cleveland basketball history. In the summer of 2014, LeBron James, obviously, returned home to play for the Cavs. Griffin then traded his No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins, in a deal that returned Kevin Love. He has also had some history dealing with the Hawks, acquiring Kyle Korver earlier this season.
While Griffin likely had minimal impact on James’ decision to return to Cleveland, he has done a great job building the Cavaliers around James. Whether it be adding Love or other supporting pieces like J.R. Smith, the Cavs are a complete team. He was also calling the shots when David Blatt was fired as Cleveland’s head coach and replaced with Tyronn Lue. And Griffin’s work helped deliver a title.
The Hawks would, obviously, love to have Griffin. He is a great basketball mind that has put all of the pieces in place around an all-time great. And that situation could very well result in a dynasty. Griffin’s contract is also set to expire this summer and he has not signed an extension. If no deal gets done with Cleveland, he will be a very hot commodity. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that the Magic have also zeroed in on Griffin.
But it would be a surprise if Griffin left the Cavaliers.
It is really hard to picture the Cavs just letting a successful executive go after the season. The team just won a title and could repeat this season if all goes well for them. Letting a GM walk, fresh off of back-to-back titles, would be unprecedented. Also, the most important factor in this equation is the real reason why Griffin will stay put.
LeBron wants him to stay.
Griffin, like Pat Riley in Miami, has catered to, what seems like, LeBron’s every want and has surrounded him with a great mix of All-Stars and complementary players. James is on a squad that is set to destroy the Eastern Conference for years to come and has no real rivals in the East at this point.
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It is nice to dream about Griffin coming to Atlanta. But there are some doubts about his fit with the team anyway. He had James fall in his lap in Cleveland and has not been forced to really build a contender from scratch, which is what he would have to do in Atlanta. Someone with experience of doing that might be a better fit. And a more realistic one.