CLEVELAND, Ohio — In the summer of 2017, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert decided not to offer GM David Griffin a new contract.
Griffin had been the Cavs’ GM for four years. In the last three, the Cavs went to the NBA Finals. They won the 2016 title. Griffin and Gilbert had some philosophical differences.
Griffin was out.
His assistant GM was Koby Altman, currently the Cavs’ team president. While Altman was sitting in Griffin’s chair on an interim basis. Gilbert had his heart set on another candidate.
Chauncey Billups.
Gilbert courted the former Detroit Pistons star, who had the nickname “Mr. Big Shot.” He was a clutch player and a respected team leader.
There were reports of Cleveland offering him a five-year contract. Billups had retired as a player and was working for ESPN.
“First and foremost, my family was 100 percent behind me taking the job,” Billups told Marc Spears of the Andscape in 2017. “It didn’t come down to that at all. At the end of the day, after carefully looking at the entire situation, I just felt it wasn’t the time. It’s that simple. I’ve got a ton of respect for Dan and the Cavs organization. But now just wasn’t the time.”
That was in July 2017.
At that point, LeBron James was heading into the final season of his Cavs contract. There already were rumors that James would be headed to the Lakers once his deal was done in the summer of 2018.
I heard Billups didn’t want to deal with the massive and painful rebuilding job that would face the franchise after the departure of James. Billups refuted that theory in his interview with Spears.
Yes, this is the same Chauncey Billups who was arrested Thursday as part of an FBI raid dealing with illegal gambling. He was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
It’s also the same Billups who was paid $107 million during his playing career, according to Basketball Reference. His salary to coach Portland was $4.75 million this season, according to Spotrac.
And just think if Billups had taken the offer to run the Cavs.
Not only would the franchise have been deprived of Altman’s leadership, the Cavs would now be in the middle of a scandal.
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024
Former Detroit guard Chauncey Billups is in the NBA Hall of Fame.AP
He was doing what?
Billups left TV to become an assistant under Tyronn Lue with the L.A. Clippers for the 2020-21 season. Lue is a former Cavs coach. In the summer of 2021, Billups was hired as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.
According to the FBI, Billups and former Cavs guard Damon Jones were used by the Mafia as “Face Cards” to lure high rollers to play poker.
The indictment against him states those games date back to 2019 involving Billups.
“Well-known former NBA players and former professional athletes acted as ‘Face Cards’ to lure unsuspecting victims to high-stakes poker games,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella. “They were then at the mercy of concealed technology, including rigged shuffling machines and specially designed contacts lenses and sunglasses to read the backs of playing cards, which ensured that the victims would lose big.”
Nocella also said some of the winnings were sent to La Cosa Nostra, a mafia gang. In the press conference announcing charges against Shaker Heights High product and NBA guard Terry Rozier, Jones and Billups, the names of Mafia families such as Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese were mentioned.
Billups – called Conspirator 8 – told a gambler his team was resting some of the best players for a March 24, 2023, game vs. the Bulls. Portland lost 124-96. Conspirator 8 was described in the indictment as a former NBA player from 1997-2014 and an NBA coach since 2021. That matches the biography of Billups.
All of this is alleged. But it’s also scary.
Cleveland Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman speaks to the media during his end-of-season availability at the Cleveland Clinic courts.
Koby Altman became the Cavs' full-time GM after Chauncey Billups turned down the job in 2017.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
What if?
Usually, when a “What if?” is mentioned, it’s something such as “What if the Browns never traded Paul Warfield for Mike Phipps?”
It’s to highlight a mistake of a local franchise.
This is the opposite.
I don’t want to consider the “What if” had Billups taken the Cavs’ offer.
Among other things, I doubt he could have come close to the superb rebuilding job of Altman and his GM, Mike Gansey.
You can argue the Cavs have been stuck in the second round of the playoffs the last two years. That’s true.
But it’s also true the Altman-led front office has turned the post-LeBron Cavs into a contender in the Eastern Conference and a consistent playoff team. His biggest trade was for Donovan Mitchell, and that has been sensational. His drafting of Evan Mobley and Darius Garland brought All-Stars to town.
It was eight years ago that Billups turned down the Cavs. It was a day that changed the direction of the franchise – for the better.
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