LeBron pushes Cavaliers to extend GM David Griffin

Every member of the Cleveland Cavaliers' core is locked into a long-term contract, save for the team's architect.

Cavaliers general manager David Griffin is in the last year of his deal after failing to reach an extension with the team last summer, sources told ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

This arrangement doesn't sit well with LeBron James, who made a full-hearted case for his general manager.

"It makes no sense why he shouldn't get an extension," James told McMenamin. "He's pulled every move - he's tried to make every move happen - to better this team to be able to compete for a championship. So, we wouldn't be in this position, obviously, without him and without the guys that are here - from the coaching staff to the players to Griff. He's been a big piece of it."

Griffin engineered the formation of the Big Three, while filling the roster each year with cost-effective veterans that helped the team win a championship last summer. He signed Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving to long-term contracts, and secured Tristan Thompson on a below-market deal, while adding J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson, Kyle Korver, Channing Frye, and Deron Williams to the supporting cast despite minimal financial flexibility.

Complicating matters is the public perception that James is behind every move. The King himself acknowledged this, but dished the credit off to Griffin.

"Obviously they always want to bring my name into it and say that obviously, it's easier because guys want to be here because I'm here," James said. "But at the end of the day, he still has to press the right buttons because I'm not in the war room, I'm not in the draft room with those (front office) guys.

"I don't know how much we may be over the luxury tax or if we have a trade exception here or how that's going to work there or how many days we got to do this. So, it wouldn't, seriously, I don't know why it would make any sense to bring in a new GM. That don't make no sense."

Both Griffin and his agent declined to comment on the story.