Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin’s aim this summer is to keep the roster and its coaching staff intact.
Both Kevin Love and LeBron James have indicated that, despite going into free agency, both guys are returning to Ohio next season.
The Cavs’ front-office hopes the team can once again become a “juggernaut”, as they chase that elusive NBA championship.
Per the Akron Beacon Journal:
Cavs general manager David Griffin said the Cavs finished 33-3 with their lineup healthy and intact, which is reason enough to squash any coaching rumors. […] “You don’t go 33‑3 with those guys healthy and put together the team we had, have it be an offensive juggernaut, and then have to turn around and play without them, be a defensively stifling team that literally chokes the life out of a 60-win team and sweeps them in a playoff series and have your coach not do a hell of a job. He did. I think our whole staff did,” Griffin said. “And we literally won an incredible number of games against very, very good teams playing radically different styles from each other. So from a purely basketball perspective, I’m not quite sure exactly what anybody is looking to have happen.”
Griffin said Thursday he expects both James and Kevin Love to become free agents later this month and expects both to return next season. Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova will receive qualifying offers, making them restricted free agents that will allow the Cavs to match any offers they receive in free agency. Griffin would like to keep all three, essentially maintaining the core of a team that won 53 games and advanced to the Finals for the second time in team history.
“We very much intend to keep this group together,” Griffin said. “You look at that as a group that has the potential to be special, special good.”
