Grading every Griffin move. Academic probation, wasting easy A's and second chances courtesy of Dell Demps.
There's been a telling absence for the New Orleans Pelicans this season.
Not Zion Williamson (that's more depressing than telling, but more on that another time). Executive Vice President (EVP) of Basketball Operations David Griffin hasn't tweeted, retweeted or replied to anything on Twitter since July 8, 2021.
For most EVPs, Twitter inactivity means nothing, but for Griffin, it shows just how fast his tenure went south in New Orleans. The same guy who routinely joked with local beat writers, sarcastically tweeted in defense of his star players and ran to retweet Pelicans hot takes has completely erased his social media footprint this season.
Less than three years after taking charge of the Pelicans, Griffin feels the heat — and with the trade deadline around the corner, Griffin's next move could realistically be his last.
But how did we get here? How did a job that featured two once-in-a-lifetime opportunities push Griffin into social media banishment in Kwame Brown record time.
There's no way a person could fail that hard, that quickly. Right?
What's David Griffin's EVP GPA?
Here's a grade breakdown to refer back to:
Grade | Explanation | Example |
A (4.0) | The type of moves you can see yourself crediting during the championship parade. | Bucks trading for Jrue Holiday. |
B (3.0) | Moves that make you say "nice." Not championship-defining moves but definitely add wins. | Lakers signing Malik Monk for the veteran minimum. |
C (2.0) | "Okay, I guess." Moves that make sense but could be viewed either positively or negatively. | Nuggets trading Bol Bol and P.J. Dozier for Bryn Forbes. |
D (1.0) | "Wait, why?" Moves that require multiple explanations to make sense of. | Mavericks trading Seth Curry for Josh Richardson. |
F (0) | Franchise killers. These are the moves that haunt a team for years. | Kings passing up on Luka Donćic for Marvin Bagley. |
2019-20: Wasting The Easy Semester
June 20, 2019: Draft Zion Williamson
Here's the easiest test to tell if someone is a liar: ask them if they would've taken Ja Morant over Zion Williamson in 2019.
Morant can play like a reincarnation of 2010-11 Derrick Rose for the next 15 years, and David Griffin would've still made the right choice selecting Williamson first overall. No amount of Greg Oden-Kevin Durant comparisons will change the fact that an NBA championship in New Orleans never felt more likely than when drafting Williamson (yes, even more than the 56-win Chris Paul-led team).
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and an easy A for Griffin.
Grade: A
June 20, 2019: Trade pick number 4 (Lakers) for picks 8, 17 and 35
At the time, the 2019 draft class appeared to take a clear dip from franchise cornerstones to potential starters after Williamson, Morant and R.J. Barrett. With no clear running mate available for Williamson at number four, Griffin's decision to turn one pick into three picks made sense.
If the draft is essentially a crap shoot, Griffin giving himself more chances to roll the dice was smart. Right?
Wrong, apparently the draft is a little more predictable than a dice game.
According to Roland Beech of 82games.com, picks 1-5 in the NBA Draft are usually "stars and solid types with no complete busts," while the three picks Griffin traded into were described as: "lots of role players" (pick 8), "as many busts as stars" (pick 17) and "lucky in some ways to find any kind of contributor" (pick 35).
Basically, Griffin outsmarted himself. *copy for later*
Grade: D
June 20, 2019: Draft Jaxson Hayes 8th Overall
Numbers suggest Jaxson Hayes may fit the "lots of role players" archetype presented by Beech.
Hayes has the 4th-highest win-share total of any player in the 2019 draft, trailing only Williamson, Morant, Brandon Clarke and Daniel Gafford. Numbers also suggest that if Hayes played starter minutes he'd average a Deandre Ayton-esque stat line(16.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2 blocks per game). And with a 19.32 player efficiency rating, numbers paint Hayes as a more efficient player than Jaren Jackson Jr., Myles Turner, Wendell Carter Jr., and Nic Claxton.
Numbers lie.
In two of his first three seasons, the 2018 eighth overall pick lost his spot in the rotation to Willy Hermangómez on multiple occasions. Hayes does have the potential to justify a top-10 selection, but between his constant foul trouble and general lack of awareness, it's nearly impossible to picture him playing enough minutes to live up to that potential.
However, flashes of a soft touch, the success of similar bigs and his recent play at power forward are just enough to keep Griffin's first real draft pick from receiving an F grade.
Fun fact: the one game this season that Hayes logged over 25 minutes, he put up 23 points and 7 rebounds on 75% shooting (yes, I own a large chunk of Jaxson Hayes stock).
Next five picks: Rui Hachimura, Cam Reddish, Cameron Johnson, P.J. Washington, and Tyler Herro.
Grade: D
June 20, 2019: Draft Nickeil Alexander-Walker 17th Overall
The numbers lie for Jaxson Hayes, but they're brutally honest when it comes to Nickeil Alexander-Walker (NAW).
Where Hayes passes the analytics test and fails the eye test, NAW manipulates the "that boy nice" crowd and gets exposed by the analytics bunch.
At a lengthy 6-foot-6, NAW looks like he can do anything on the court (yes, I also own NAW stock).
Pressure the opposing team's point guard from half court? No problem. Tough contested stepbacks over perfect defense? Drill work. Finish with either hand around the rim? Literally ambidextrous.
Then you check his numbers: 37% from the field, 31% from deep and an opposing field goal percentage equal to Trae Young and Facundo Campazzo (opponents shoot 47.5% when guarded by NAW).
The 17th overall pick isn't usually viewed as a franchise changer, but after NAW's impressive Summer League, his expectations were even higher than Hayes'.
Next five picks: Goga Bitadze, Luka Samanic, Matisse Thybulle, Brandon Clarke, Grant Williams
Grade: D
June 20, 2019: Draft Didi Louzada 35th Overall
Didi Louzada has the body of an NBA player — that's it.
And even that part of his game is questionable, since earlier this season he faced a 25-game suspension for drostanolone and testosterone.
In his 63 minutes of NBA action, Louzada has a -1.1 PER (I've never seen a negative PER) and the team gets outscored by about 15 points for every 100 possessions he plays.
Next five picks: Cody Martin, Deividas Sirvydis, Daniel Gafford, Alen Smailagic, Justin James
Grade: F
July 6, 2019: Trade Anthony Davis to the Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, four first-round picks, and cash
Three young starters, each with potential to go up a couple notches, and four distant-future first-round picks from a team in win-now mode is a dynasty origin story.
This is the move Griffin was hired to make, and he delivered — at this point he was free to sit back, watch the talent develop and wait for a championship in a couple years (spoiler, he did not).
This was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity number two and another easy A.
Grade: A
July 7, 2019: Trade two second rounders for Derrick Favors
Trading two second-round picks for a starting center makes sense and would be applauded in most cases, but trading for a veteran center who's clearly better than your eighth overall pick who plays the same position makes most sensible people pause and ask, "Wait, why?" (refer back to grading breakdown).
Was the instant added value of Favors worth more than the development of Jaxson Hayes? What about Favors' game suggested he'd be a good mentor for Hayes? Why did Favors attempt three shots for the win in 2019-2020? Where is the Zion Williamson injury update (sorry, got carried away)?
So many questions, and they all point to one answer.
*paste* Griffin outsmarted himself.
Grade: D
July 15, 2019: Sign JJ Redick on 2-year, $26.5 million contract
The next sentence may read as very depressing: JJ Redick was the biggest, new addition free agent signing in my decade-plus of Pelicans fandom (if that sentence made you think "What about Julius Randle?," seek help).
For seemingly the first time in forever, the Pelicans were the cool, young team that coveted veterans wanted to join. Signing one of the best shooters in NBA history, who also happened to have ties to Ingram and Williamson and was a close friend to Jrue Holiday, made perfect sense and felt like the type of move that Pelicans fans had taught themselves to not get their hopes up for.
Grade: B
July 15, 2019: Release Christian Wood
This seems like a "hindsight is 20/20" move, but anyone who suffered through watching the end of the 2019-20 Pelicans season saw Wood's ability. In March he put up a three-game stretch of 21 points, 10 rebounds and over 2.5 blocks per game.
Releasing Wood wasn't an all-time bad miss, but you can't help but imagine what the past few years would have been like if Griffin chose Wood over Darius Miller.
Grade: C
Three D's and an F in the 2019 draft spelled the beginning of trouble for Griffin.
Falling just below a 2.0 with two once-in-a-lifetime easy A's, Griffin was on the EVP-version of academic probation heading into the 2020-21 season.
2019 Grade: C- (1.89)
2020-21 Season: "Thank God For Dell Demps"
August 15, 2020: Fire Alvin Gentry
Gentry's time in New Orleans was cursed from the start.
Griffin parting ways with the offensive architect was the right move, but it also felt like it was either a year too late or a year too early, especially when you consider who filled the position next.
Grade: C
October 22, 2020: Hire Stan Van Gundy
Griffin was tasked with hiring a coach for one of the most enticing young rosters in the NBA and he hired Stan Van Gundy.
Let's try that sentence again with some emphasis: Griffin was tasked with hiring a coach for one of the most enticing young rosters in the NBA and he hired Stan ... Van ... Gundy.
Rage-inducing rotations, outdated defensive philosophies and an offense that felt like it was made for Bill Russell made up Van Gundy's lone season as head coach and helped spell the end of the Pelicans' short-lived stint as the league's beloved sleeper team.
Grade: F
November 17, 2020: Trade Jrue Holiday for Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps
The Pelicans didn't want to pay Jrue Holiday the 4-year/$135 million extension that he eventually got.
As bleak as losing your most proven player over money is, at least the honest reason makes sense.
Griffin would later claim that the team and Holiday were on alternate timelines and this trade was him doing right by a beloved Pelican, but that narrative is disproven if you just read Griffin's own words from two weeks before the trade took place (honestly, it's not worth reading).
Hidden inside all those words is the key truth "he loves being with us."
It's hard to believe that a player as passionate about the organization as Holiday would demand a trade right as the team is entering one of its most optimistic seasons during his time with the franchise, but I'll take Griffin's word for it.
Evidenced by the multiple pick swaps, Griffin leapt at the opportunity to take advantage of a potentially soon-to-be crippled Bucks franchise, should Giannis Antetokounmpo left in free agency.
On Dec. 15, less than a month after Griffin gambled on Antetokounmpo leaving, the 2019 MVP signed a five-year, $228 million extension, slicing the value of those four first rounders from perennial top-5 potential into a collection of late first rounders.
At least Griffin secured All-Defensive point guard Eric Bledsoe.
Sigh, *paste* Griffin outsmarted himself.
Grade: D
November 18, 2020: Draft Kira Lewis Jr. 13th Overall
Drafting a point guard in the lottery felt like an "in case Lonzo Ball leaves in free agency break glass" move. Figuring that to be the case, drafting Kira Lewis Jr. 13th, despite having two starting point guards on roster, made sense.
The part that stings are the other potential Ball replacements (ha) picked directly before or after Lewis Jr.: Tyrese Haliburton at pick 12, Cole Anthony at pick 15, Tyrese Maxey at pick 21, and Immanuel Quickley at pick 25.
Two years into his career, Lewis Jr. seems to have Ish Smith with a jumper potential — and that's not as bad as it felt to type, but those other four guards have all shown potential on another level (Cole Anthony is pretty good) or two (Tyrese Maxey made Ben Simmons irrelevant) or three (free Haliburton).
Grade: D
November 24, 2020: Resign Brandon Ingram to 5-year, $158 million max extension
Brandon Ingram is a top-35 player in the NBA and a top-15 player aged 25 years or younger.
Even if he and Williamson never mesh perfectly on the court, securing a talent that young under a long-term contract is smart for any organization, especially one prone to missing out on free agents.
This was quietly a job-saving A.
Grade: A
Through his first two seasons, Griffin couldn't even crack a 2.0 GPA as EVP — normally, this would be enough for a "the Pelicans and David Griffin have agreed to part ways" tweet from Woj, but an uncannily smooth extension process with Brandon Ingram and the low bar set by Dell Demps was just enough to give Griffin one more year to prove himself.
2020 Grade: 1.6 (D+)
2021-22 Season: Zero Dark Thirty Activated
June 16, 2021: Fire Stan Van Gundy
From an ego standpoint, firing two coaches in two seasons can't be easy; Griffin essentially admitted he was as wrong as possible twice and gave himself one more strike to get the head coaching position right.
If Griffin deserves blame for hiring Van Gundy (he does), he deserves credit for swallowing his pride and quickly undoing his mistake.
Grade: B
July 22, 2021: Hire Willie Green
It's fitting that the best Pelicans head coach since Monty Williams is a Williams disciple.
Maybe it's Green's age or his cool demeanor or the team's post-Van Gundy gratitude, but this year's Pelicans play with 10-day contract intensity.
Minus the occasional questionable defensive gameplan (please basketball gods no more Valunančiūnas in drop coverage), Green aces everything a fan can ask for from a head coach.
His rotations are efficient. He doesn't play favorites. His game management is excellent. He draws up great plays out of timeouts. And he's attentive (yes, the bar was this low).
Green's biggest test still awaits: getting Ingram and Williamson to thrive on both ends together — a test both Gentry and Van Gundy failed — but for the time being, he seems like the perfect guy to lead the Pelicans.
Grade: A
July 26, 2021: Trade Adams, Bledsoe and pick number 10 for Jonas Valunančiūnas and pick 17
Similar to the Stan Van Gundy firing, this move by Griffin served as a public admittance of failure and helped undo past mistakes.
Kudos, I guess.
Grade: B
July 29, 2021: Draft Trey Murphy III pick 17
Grading Trey Murphy III's rookie campaign is basically like asking yourself how much do you trust Willie Green.
Is the Pelicans first-round pick really not better than Garrett Temple or is Green playing favorites with veterans? If Green is playing favorites with veterans, why is Herb Jones, a second-round pick, playing nearly 30 minutes a night? How does Gary Clark, a two-way contract forward, and his 10 minutes per game factor into the situation?
Based on my trust in Green and the little bit of Murphy III I've seen in the NBA so far, chances are Murphy isn't better than any of the forwards referenced above.
Much like Devonte Graham (more on him later), Murphy III was drafted with the expectation of operating off Williamson, so he and Griffin get a slight pass.
Grade: C
July 29, 2021: Draft Herb Jones pick 35
I say this as someone who is in awe every time I watch Mikal Bridges play: Herb Jones is to the Pelicans what Mikal Bridges is to the Phoenix Suns.
No further explanation. Herb deserves and will get a column of his own before the season is over.
Grade: A
August 2, 2021: Trade Lonzo Ball for Garrett Temple, Tomas Satoransky and a second-round pick
This scab is almost too fresh to pick at, but for the sake of the column:
From seemingly the moment Griffin drafted Lewis Jr., Lonzo Ball's name was a staple in trade rumors. When asked about those rumors during a podcast, Griffin said the following:
I think [Ball] just realized and compartmentalized in his situation that it’s a good thing that people bring up your name. It means you are coveted by other teams and I think you just have to take that as a positive and understand that the way the business works is quite often acquiring teams will throw your name out there and hope there’s blood in the water.
Those comments read eerily similar to the word soup Griffin uttered about Jrue Holiday's trade status months earlier: no denial, a little patronizing and a lot of talking around the point. If this was any indication of history repeating itself, Griffin's next move was clear.
*paste* Griffin outsmarted himself.
In arguably the most head-scratching move of Griffin's tenure (yes, even more head-scratching than hiring SVG), he didn't pull the trigger on a Ball trade before the deadline, despite Ball to the Bulls being so widely known that the NBA had to fine Chicago for tampering.
Either Griffin genuinely believed that the franchise whose biggest free agent signing since Peja Stojakovic was JJ Reddick had a chance at Kyle Lowry or Chris Paul, or he simply didn't care if Ball walked — both are equally unforgivable trains of thought.
Grade: F
August 2, 2021: Sign and Trade Devonte Graham for a 2022 lottery-protected first-round pick
Adding insult to injury, Griffin gave up a first-round pick for the Hornets' third-best point guard after trading his best point guard for a second-round pick and two end-of-the-bench veterans.
Devonte Graham has hit three game-winners this year, each one more spectacular than the last, serves as the team's lone deep-range threat (sorry Jonas) and is the best point guard on the roster. All that to say, Devonte Graham hasn't been very good for the Pelicans.
However, Graham is a great teammate and plays as hard as anyone not named Jose Alvarado, so here are three bullet-proof excuses for Devonte Graham apologists like myself to use in his defense (I have no shame):
1. He was signed to feed off Zion Williamson.
Graham is at his best shooting off catch-and shoot opportunities (42.5% from deep in those situations), aka the exact shots teams are forced to give up when facing Williamson.
Is Graham your typical NBA-level starting point guard? No, but next to Ingram AND Williamson, his weaknesses (playmaking) can be eliminated and his strengths can be highlighted.
2. *whispers* He's better for the Pelicans than Lonzo Ball.
No one saw the potential in Lonzo Ball more than me (okay, maybe LaVar and the weird Twitter stan accounts, but I was definitely top-10). With that being said, Ball's time with the Pelicans was more of a strobe light than flat-out blinding potential.
The best litmus test for whether or not someone watched Pelicans games last year was how much they overrated Lonzo Ball — and coincidentally, the best litmus test for how well someone understands basketball in general is how much they underrate Lonzo Ball.
Ball's sacrificial, high potential style of play is one of the most overlooked play styles in the sport, but it's a style of play that's worth at most what Ball's current contract is (4-year, $85 million). Finding a less ball dominant point guard with similar positives at half the price is pretty good.
3. He's playing a tier above his pay grade
Devonte Graham is making $11 million this season.
The only starting, non-rookie contract Western Conference point guard making less than him is Reggie Jackson at $10.3 million.
For context of Graham's positional value and the talent across the Western Conference, the next closest non-rookie contracts are Dejounte Murray at $15 million and Mike Conley at $21 million — and Murray is technically on "prove you can still play" contract thanks to his 2018 ACL tear. Graham is essentially playing $10 million under the market value of a starting veteran point guard in the Western Conference.
Grade: C
August 19, 2021 Resign Josh Hart on 3-year, $38 million contract
Josh Hart is averaging a career-high in points, assists, steals, and field goal percentage, while averaging over 7.5 rebounds and accepting an elevated role in Zion's absence.
He's the type of player that every team wants and he's on the type of contract that every team can take on. If Griffin decides to go after a big fish through a trade, Hart will be the key bait, and if Griffin sees Hart as a long-term fit, Hart's play justifies it.
Either way, Hart is key to the Pelicans' future.
Grade: A
Maybe Griffin responds best with his back against the wall or maybe Twitter was actually impacting his productivity — either way, the 2021-22 season has easily been his best effort as EVP of the Pelicans. Minus the disastrous Lonzo Ball free agency and strange Williamson injury situation, Griffin has done an above average job this season.
Granted, the trade deadline is approaching.
2021 Grade: C+ (2.75)
Final: High Highs + Low Lows = Average?
Even amidst his best EVP GPA season with the Pelicans, David Griffin is far from cooling his hot seat.
If it weren't for Zion Williamson's injury making it difficult to grade Graham and Murphy III, Griffin could be in the middle of his third-straight failing semester. And if it weren't for Dell Demps refusing to trade Anthony Davis during the 2018-19 season and essentially gifting Griffin a Lakers haul and better odds at landing Williamson, two of Griffin's most highly graded moves would be eliminated.
But as of now, pre-trade deadline (strong emphasis on pre-trade deadline), Griffin's overall tenure with the Pelicans has been so up and down that he's frustratingly in the middle as an EVP.
Final Grade: C (2.08)
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