The Cleveland Cavaliers have been in turmoil all offseason.
It started with the team moving on from general manager David Griffin, opting not to renew his contract. The Cavs then attempted to hire Chauncey Billups as the president of basketball operations but the former point guard eventually withdrew his name from consideration, reportedly due to a lowball offer.
Now, the organization, which eventually promoted Koby Altman to general manager, is left figuring out how to handle a Kyrie Irving trade request.
As the Cavs introduced Altman, team owner Dan Gilbert denied several of the allegations, namely that money had any effect on the Cavs’ front office decisions.
Gilbert also blamed “timing” for the team being unable to hire Billups.
The Cavs’ owner has been criticized in the past for not putting enough money into running his organization, evidenced by the turnstile of main basketball decision makers that he has had since taking over the franchise.
It seems unlikely that money didn’t play any role in Gilbert’s decisions. Griffin had done a tremendous job as the GM of the team and was backed by LeBron James, so any “philosophical” differences are likely overstated. But Gilbert must strive to fix his reputation as no significant personality in the NBA would prefer to work in such an environment.
