Cleveland Cavaliers: Why did David Griffin withdraw from New York Knicks job?

Former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin is still looking for work.

Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert won’t admit this any time soon or possibly ever, but moving on from David Griffin is one of his worst moves he has ever made as an owner. By moving on from him when he did, Griffin was in a situation where there were very few openings.

One option though was with the New York Knicks. However, he recently withdrew his name from consideration to become their next president of basketball operations. Why exactly did he do that?

According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, it was because the Knicks refused to give automony over decisions.

"In a move that was as baffling as it was predictable, the Knicks reportedly refused to grant autonomy over basketball decisions to David Griffin."

If that sounds familiar to you, then you would be correct. That was a reason why Griffin is no longer in Cleveland. He wanted to do things long-term for the Cavaliers that Gilbert was not a fan of.

In addition to that rejection from the Knicks, more details came to light:

"A source told the Daily News that one of Griffin’s requests was to remove (Allan) Houston, who has been with the Knicks as a player or an executive for the majority of the last 20 years. With Dolan’s support as one of the owner’s all-time favorite players (remember that $100 million contract extension), Houston rapidly ascended in New York’s front office and many believe he’s being groomed as the next GM under Mills."

Well, that is why the Knicks are who they are. Meanwhile, the same could be said to a degree with Cleveland. Let me explain. New York has been dealing with years of dysfunction, led by their owner James Dolan.

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Gilbert has been willing to spend, but he has not had the best approach in keeping key decision makers. So, if forward LeBron James were to leave Cleveland after next season, what then?

Whoever Gilbert replaces Griffin with won’t be Griffin. Griffin was an underappreciated architect to Gilbert. The fact of the matter is that the Cavaliers’ run could be over a lot sooner than many expected.

If James were to leave, Cleveland may be forced to trade away point guard Kyrie Irving to help for both the short-term and long-term view points of the organization.

All that said, I digress. Why wouldn’t New York allow Griffin, a proven winner, to bring in who he wants? That is exactly what happens when new leaders are hired.

With the Knicks out of the picture, what is next for the championship-winning general manager? Barring a sudden firing, Griffin will have to play the waiting game.

All job seekers have to deal with it to some degree at various points during their careers. In the meantime, Griffin would be a valuable asset for a sports network as an analyst or work in a similar role on the radio.

Or, Griffin could simply step back and evaluate the NBA landscape as waits his next phone call from a team. Eventually, more options will open up for him and Griffin will have his pick as to what he wants to do.

It is just so unfortunate Gilbert felt he would be better off without him. I don’t have to state the obvious in that Gilbert is wrong. The proof is there with what Cleveland and the rest of the NBA has done so far this offseason.

Next: Enjoy the ride Cavs fans

As far as Cleveland goes, wherever Griffin lands, both they along with the rest of the NBA should be very cautious in how they go about doing business. Griffin was able to pull deals other cannot in Cleveland and will do so again as needed either as a general manager or president of basketball operations in the near future.

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