How David Griffin Rebuilt the Pelicans and His World

[PolishFan]

That wowowowowow fellow smells like a burning retread from the past.

My thoughts exactly

[Pelicanidae]

One of the complaints I remember hearing more than once was how radio silent Demps was with the media. Actually, that was one of the main issues with how he handled the AD trade requests was forcing Gentry to handle the media instead of handling the situation.

Yep, basically this. It's got nothing to do with quotable lines, and everything to do with a complete lack of communication. Whether you like it or not, with Griff we know:

- Why he drafted who he drafted, and whose advice he took
- Why he signed who he signed, and whose advice he took
- What the rough plans are for player development of those he signed
- Who he considers the primary options on this team going forward
- The rough identity he imagines the team having, and the primary focus of the team
- The strategy he wants to follow regarding team building in the long term
- His thoughts on vets vs youth argument

etc. With Demps we knew:

- Sweet FA.

After nearly a decade of being completely ignored at best, it's nice to have a guy running the show who acts as if communication is a virtue, imo.

[da ThRONe]

Read the article again. You will find out Lebron is the one that hijacked it. ESPN is the one that came after Griff. Do you work for Rich Paul? I know if posted this crap I would be banned in a heartbeat.

It doesn't matter what he said. He left himself open to misinterpretation. As I've said before at this level these are the type of things a manager has to understand and be proactive about.

I don't need to know Griff personally feeling are plans for the future I need him to put together a championship level team. If Demps would have done so it ultimately would not have matter how quiet.

[Pelicanidae]

It doesn't matter what he said. He left himself open to misinterpretation. .

A media savvy person can take any statement and turn it into a controversy. You're right that it doesn't matter what he said: if the media wanted some drama out of it, he could have literally just talked about his favourite colour for 5 minutes and it would have been turned into a dramatic centrepiece for Fox Sports to stretch into a 40 minute segment.

It is literally impossible to avoid leaving yourself open to misinterpretation. There is no such thing as a perfectly ideal and precise language: it doesn't exist, it can't exist, and it won't exist. As long as human language requires both a source and an interpreter, there will be misinterpretation, miscommunication, and dishonesty.

The only alternative is silence. Obviously we all want Griff to put together a championship calibre team. I think we're all smart enough to know that expecting that in year 1 is stupid beyond belief. So you have to temper your expectations. What do you want from year one, knowing that a championship is likely off the table? For me, a real game plan, some communication, some development, some signs of progress, that's what I want. Griff is giving me that. If you would prefer absolute silence, that's fine, but you can't pretend like that's anything other than your personal preference, and that has no impact on Griff's ability as an executive or the viability of the strategy he IS using.

[ColoradoCajun]

Once again I’ll say it if no one else will...

...Griffin, Please just shut up and GM.

Great Pelican piece. He should have left it at just that.

He ISN'T GM.

[13 - 3]

It doesn't matter what he said. He left himself open to misinterpretation. As I've said before at this level these are the type of things a manager has to understand and be proactive about.

I don't need to know Griff personally feeling are plans for the future I need him to put together a championship level team. If Demps would have done so it ultimately would not have matter how quiet.

If Grif is GM, What is Trajan Langdon’s role?

See how you sound now?

[13 - 3]

He ISN'T GM.

Let him think Griff. Is the GM .

[da ThRONe]

If Grif is GM, What is Trajan Langdon’s role?

See how you sound now?

I didn't say GM I said manager. POBO is a manager.

[bahmamamba]

I didn't say GM I said manager. POBO is a manager.

you know I'm surprised you aren't a pobo in the NBA I mean you obviously think you know what's best and think you know more than actual professionals

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[da ThRONe]

A media savvy person can take any statement and turn it into a controversy. You're right that it doesn't matter what he said: if the media wanted some drama out of it, he could have literally just talked about his favourite colour for 5 minutes and it would have been turned into a dramatic centrepiece for Fox Sports to stretch into a 40 minute segment.

It is literally impossible to avoid leaving yourself open to misinterpretation. There is no such thing as a perfectly ideal and precise language: it doesn't exist, it can't exist, and it won't exist. As long as human language requires both a source and an interpreter, there will be misinterpretation, miscommunication, and dishonesty.

The only alternative is silence. Obviously we all want Griff to put together a championship calibre team. I think we're all smart enough to know that expecting that in year 1 is stupid beyond belief. So you have to temper your expectations. What do you want from year one, knowing that a championship is likely off the table? For me, a real game plan, some communication, some development, some signs of progress, that's what I want. Griff is giving me that. If you would prefer absolute silence, that's fine, but you can't pretend like that's anything other than your personal preference, and that has no impact on Griff's ability as an executive or the viability of the strategy he IS using.

While there is some reasoning to what you are saying. Of all the people in the public eye it doesn't happen to everyone. Griff was too candid it's already been said in this very thread and mostly agreed upon.

[da ThRONe]

you know I'm surprised you aren't a pobo in the NBA I mean you obviously think you know what's best and think you know more than actual professionals

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WTF are you talking about? So because someone has an opinion they know better than someone else? This statement can be made by literally every person to make a comment here.

[bahmamamba]

WTF are you talking about? So because someone has an opinion they know better than someone else? This statement can be made by literally every person to make a comment here.

lol, okay Mr Drummond will be better then A.D now don't get angry buddy ik how you get

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[13 - 3]

I didn't say GM I said manager. POBO is a manager.

The interview had nothing to do with basketball. It was about his life.

[bahmamamba]

The interview had nothing to do with basketball. It was about his life.

ya know it's nuts when the person who makes sense is you and then there's this guy

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[Wowowowow]

ya know it's nuts when the person who makes sense is you and then there's this guy

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You complain about people’s opinions yet the only post I see you actually make when there’s real basketball talk is attacking posters.

Where’s your opinions?

[Pelicanidae]

While there is some reasoning to what you are saying. Of all the people in the public eye it doesn't happen to everyone. Griff was too candid it's already been said in this very thread and mostly agreed upon.

It happened to Griff because

A) He has worked with Lebron in the past
B) He recently was behind a trade that contained a top 5 NBA player
C) That trade also contained big name drama pieces like Lonzo Ball
D) That trade was essentially forced by fellow big name drama piece Rich Paul at the behest of Lebron James
E) He drafted Zion, another of the biggest names in basketball right now.

If Zanik from the Jazz or something had said precisely the same things about a random ex player they had, there would have been little to no drama about it. It's because it was Griff, who is in the public eye for a bunch of reasons (some of his own design, some not), talking about Lebron, that it became a big thing.

Was it too candid? Maybe. I personally didn't get that vibe reading the article, it felt fairly sensible to me. It's possible that it was too candid in retrospect, when you look back and see what came of it, but just reading the article an hour after it was published, I didn't feel like there was anything stand-out in it. The media is what the media is. Especially in August.

[bahmamamba]

You complain about people’s opinions yet the only post I see you actually make when there’s real basketball talk is attacking posters.

Where’s your opinions?

lol,real basketball talk? you mean you complaining non stop about Griffen or how about you complaining about us not drafting garland?

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[da ThRONe]

The interview had nothing to do with basketball. It was about his life.

Again I get that. But when you take a position like the one Griffin has with the Pelicans. You have to understand everything you say for a lack of a better term "can and will be used against you in the court(of public opinion)". That's the job it's why he gets paid in a insane amount of income. I'm not dogging Griff, but he has to be forward thinking. We have no idea if this will have any play in free agency moving forward, but at the end was it worth potentially having a black mark on him professionally to make these comments? As a fan I'd say no.

[da ThRONe]

It happened to Griff because

A) He has worked with Lebron in the past
B) He recently was behind a trade that contained a top 5 NBA player
C) That trade also contained big name drama pieces like Lonzo Ball
D) That trade was essentially forced by fellow big name drama piece Rich Paul at the behest of Lebron James
E) He drafted Zion, another of the biggest names in basketball right now.

If Zanik from the Jazz or something had said precisely the same things about a random ex player they had, there would have been little to no drama about it. It's because it was Griff, who is in the public eye for a bunch of reasons (some of his own design, some not), talking about Lebron, that it became a big thing.

Was it too candid? Maybe. I personally didn't get that vibe reading the article, it felt fairly sensible to me. It's possible that it was too candid in retrospect, when you look back and see what came of it, but just reading the article an hour after it was published, I didn't feel like there was anything stand-out in it. The media is what the media is. Especially in August.

Everything you listed IMO is all the reason Griff has to understand why his words more than others will likely be manipulated. He has one of the highest profile job in sports as the ultimate decision maker for a NBA team. That comes with a great deal of responsibility. I thought the situation with Danny Ferry a few years ago was BS. But it costed him his job because it's a job that comes with an insane amount of responsibilities. While this is no where near the hot button issue it still something that can potentially hurt the franchise.

[Pelicanidae]

Everything you listed IMO is all the reason Griff has to understand why his words more than others will likely be manipulated. He has one of the highest profile job in sports as the ultimate decision maker for a NBA team. That comes with a great deal of responsibility. I thought the situation with Danny Ferry a few years ago was BS. But it costed him his job because it's a job that comes with an insane amount of responsibilities. While this is no where near the hot button issue it still something that can potentially hurt the franchise.

This will have literally zero appreciable impact on the franchise going forward. I guarantee you that 90% of casual fans won't even consciously remember that it happened September 1st.

No matter what Griff says, there will be a potential for it to be taken out of context. He could Bill Clinton every single word in every single statement he makes, and if the media decided they wanted to make a story out of it, they would. He could understand with 100% clarity that he has to be as precise as possible with ALL statements, and have them analysed and considered to a level of absurd atomic detail, and if Shannon Sharpe decided he wanted to talk about Griffin on a given day, he would talk about Griffin that day.

Like I said before, you have two options. Either he speaks, with a risk of occasional media vulture input, or he's silent. Silent is terrible. I can think of very few good GMs who are silent: RC Buford springs to mind, and that's it. Even he has the benefit of being quiet because he has a very very outspoken head coach. Good GMs speak. Some do it better than others, and so far I think Griffin has done it fine. Getting 1 scandal that has basically already disappeared in what must be 25 media appearances so far is a pretty good hit rate, with all the attention we've been getting.

And of course, all of this ignores the fact that he will speak less naturally as things go on. So much has happened recently, that he's had to speak. New POBO, new GM, new investment in training facility, new training staff, top 5 player traded to noisiest franchise in the league (LA), drafting most hyped prospect since Lebron James, making additional trades for more players who also had explosive debuts in Summer League, executing an incredible free agency job, etc etc. Lots of stuff, very quickly.

Come January of next year, all of that will be in the past. We'll be a few dozen games into a season, the focus will be back on the players, the coaches job will be solidified, there will be no trades (at least none on the scale of the AD deal), we won't be hiring a new GM, etc etc. The attention will die down somewhat, and the media presence of Griff will die down with it. He's speaking because there's a lot to speak about. Once the game is speaking for itself, he will speak less, I'm pretty sure.

[Wowowowow]

This will have literally zero appreciable impact on the franchise going forward. I guarantee you that 90% of casual fans won't even consciously remember that it happened September 1st.

No matter what Griff says, there will be a potential for it to be taken out of context. He could Bill Clinton every single word in every single statement he makes, and if the media decided they wanted to make a story out of it, they would. He could understand with 100% clarity that he has to be as precise as possible with ALL statements, and have them analysed and considered to a level of absurd atomic detail, and if Shannon Sharpe decided he wanted to talk about Griffin on a given day, he would talk about Griffin that day.

Like I said before, you have two options. Either he speaks, with a risk of occasional media vulture input, or he's silent. Silent is terrible. I can think of very few good GMs who are silent: RC Buford springs to mind, and that's it. Even he has the benefit of being quiet because he has a very very outspoken head coach. Good GMs speak. Some do it better than others, and so far I think Griffin has done it fine. Getting 1 scandal that has basically already disappeared in what must be 25 media appearances so far is a pretty good hit rate, with all the attention we've been getting.

And of course, all of this ignores the fact that he will speak less naturally as things go on. So much has happened recently, that he's had to speak. New POBO, new GM, new investment in training facility, new training staff, top 5 player traded to noisiest franchise in the league (LA), drafting most hyped prospect since Lebron James, making additional trades for more players who also had explosive debuts in Summer League, executing an incredible free agency job, etc etc. Lots of stuff, very quickly.

Come January of next year, all of that will be in the past. We'll be a few dozen games into a season, the focus will be back on the players, the coaches job will be solidified, there will be no trades (at least none on the scale of the AD deal), we won't be hiring a new GM, etc etc. The attention will die down somewhat, and the media presence of Griff will die down with it. He's speaking because there's a lot to speak about. Once the game is speaking for itself, he will speak less, I'm pretty sure.

I actually agree with you in the sense that it’s nice to have a bit of media exposure now and for the info hawks out there to wake up and read fresh articles everyday in nice. And for the record, in large I do think Griffin has done a good job of making the necessary decisions. The Lakers move is one he was sort of forced to make and dropping the ball on that would have been not doing the deal at. He hasn’t been lousy and played his cards well. I can agree to that much.

But knowing that the media are vultures in everything he says going forward due to the press wave, id appreciate him putting more calculation on just speaking on the direction of the team and not speak on other superstar players or predicting exactly what players will be or do before they play a game. That’s it. In those two instances, the answer of “Lebron is on another team” or “We expect Zion to do the necessary things to help our team win” is enough context. He can control the narrative by doing exactly that. If they pick at those answers, then get in front of it and nip things in the butt.

But his comments about Bron and how he was the guy that could tell him like it is, added to his campfire story about how Hart texted him about not trading him, or even stating what Zion is or will do (bc even in concept you have disagreed in some form of the assessment) just leaves the door wide open. I’m looking at it like “dude you don’t have to tell people you have the power, we get it”. It’s just unnecessary to me.

[Pelicanidae]

I actually agree with you in the sense that it’s nice to have a bit of media exposure now and for the info hawks out there to wake up and read fresh articles everyday in nice. And for the record, in large I do think Griffin has done a good job of making the necessary decisions. The Lakers move is one he was sort of forced to make and dropping the ball on that would have been not doing the deal at. He hasn’t been lousy and played his cards well. I can agree to that much.

But knowing that the media are vultures in everything he says going forward due to the press wave, id appreciate him putting more calculation on just speaking on the direction of the team and not speak on other superstar players or predicting exactly what players will be or do before they play a game. That’s it. In those two instances, the answer of “Lebron is on another team” or “We expect Zion to do the necessary things to help our team win” is enough context. He can control the narrative by doing exactly that. If they pick at those answers, then get in front of it and nip things in the butt.

But his comments about Bron and how he was the guy that could tell him like it is, added to his campfire story about how Hart texted him about not trading him, or even stating what Zion is or will do (bc even in concept you have disagreed in some form of the assessment) just leaves the door wide open. I’m looking at it like “dude you don’t have to tell people you have the power, we get it”. It’s just unnecessary to me.

I'm not going to claim that he's been perfect. He's said stuff I disagree with, like you said. And even if he hadn't, and I was in full agreement wiht everything he said, other people would still have the right to disagree with him, that's totally cool. I don't expect, or even want, everyone to agree me on everything For me, it's just a case of comparing the options. Either an executive speaks, or they don't, and I'd much rather them speak. Could he have worded things a little more carefully? I guess, maybe. I didn't see a big issue with what he said, but apparently some other people did, so there's always the chance. But I'd much rather take that risk, that 10% chance of misunderstanding or whatever, over silence.

I don't even mind him telling the Josh Hart story, I thought that was kind of nice. I disagree with his take on Zion (at least in some respects) but I don't mind hearing it. I've loved everything he's said about Jrue this off-season.

It doesn't feel to me like he's telling people he has power or whatever. It just feels like a guy who is excited, has a lot to say, and is saying it. Maybe you think he's saying it poorly or maybe you don't (obviously, I don't), but in either case I don't think this reflects that badly on Griff overall, and even if it does, it's a natural by-product of the situation this team was in over the last 6 months, and it will naturally die down as time passes. That's just my two cents, I guess.

[RaisingTheBar]

Some people can get slapped in the face with gold bricks and still wouldn't be satisfied. A lot of ridiculousness in this thread.

[13 - 3]

Again I get that. But when you take a position like the one Griffin has with the Pelicans. You have to understand everything you say for a lack of a better term "can and will be used against you in the court(of public opinion)". That's the job it's why he gets paid in a insane amount of income. I'm not dogging Griff, but he has to be forward thinking. We have no idea if this will have any play in free agency moving forward, but at the end was it worth potentially having a black mark on him professionally to make these comments? As a fan I'd say no.

You sound like a Rich Paul employee

LOL

[13 - 3]

I actually agree with you in the sense that it’s nice to have a bit of media exposure now and for the info hawks out there to wake up and read fresh articles everyday in nice. And for the record, in large I do think Griffin has done a good job of making the necessary decisions. The Lakers move is one he was sort of forced to make and dropping the ball on that would have been not doing the deal at. He hasn’t been lousy and played his cards well. I can agree to that much.

But knowing that the media are vultures in everything he says going forward due to the press wave, id appreciate him putting more calculation on just speaking on the direction of the team and not speak on other superstar players or predicting exactly what players will be or do before they play a game. That’s it. In those two instances, the answer of “Lebron is on another team” or “We expect Zion to do the necessary things to help our team win” is enough context. He can control the narrative by doing exactly that. If they pick at those answers, then get in front of it and nip things in the butt.

But his comments about Bron and how he was the guy that could tell him like it is, added to his campfire story about how Hart texted him about not trading him, or even stating what Zion is or will do (bc even in concept you have disagreed in some form of the assessment) just leaves the door wide open. I’m looking at it like “dude you don’t have to tell people you have the power, we get it”. It’s just unnecessary to me.

LOL . Look up close. Tyson would not sit with him.