Dec. 18, 2003, 10:57PM Team to release troubled forward By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle The Rockets will release third-year forward Eddie Griffin as soon as today, severing ties with the 2001 first-round draft pick, several sources familiar with the situation said Thursday. The move will complete Griffin's fall from one of the coveted keys to the Rockets' rebuilding plans to a player they could not trade and would not keep. Unable to find an acceptable trade for Griffin, the Rockets likely have or will have to reach a settlement on the remainder of his contract. Griffin's contract was worth $2.3 million this season before the salary lost during his suspension. Rockets officials declined to comment. Griffin's agent Arn Tellem did not return calls. The Rockets had suspended Griffin, 21, without pay Oct. 16 after he skipped a team road trip and the next day's practice. Several weeks later, after Griffin continued to miss workouts, they declined their option to pick up a fourth season of his contract. "Things are fine now," Griffin said after meeting with Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy on Oct. 15. "I'm going to be back with the team." But he never was, and now never will be. Facing felony assault charges and a misdemeanor drug possession charge, Griffin was recently released from voluntary substance abuse and depression therapy. But a judge ordered a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, making him almost entirely unavailable to play for the Rockets. Teammates have said Griffin made great progress emotionally during his treatment. But several sources said he is far from in physical condition to play in the NBA or contribute to a team's practices. "He's in good spirits," Rockets guard Steve Francis said after visiting Griffin shortly before Griffin's release from therapy Dec. 10. "He's definitely thinking about basketball a lot. He isn't ready to practice, of course, after doing something like he has." The 6-10 Griffin was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the seventh pick of the 2001 draft so they could deal him to the Rockets for three first-round picks. Until several days before the draft, he had been projected as the possible first pick overall, and the Rockets said they likely would have taken him if they had selected first. "No way in the world did we think we would have the opportunity to get this guy," former Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "Three picks help you fill some big holes. We think we got someone special. How many times do you get a chance to get a special player? Now we got this guy." The Nets used the first of those picks to choose Richard Jefferson, who helped key the Nets' run to consecutive Eastern Conference championships. They also picked starting center Jason Collins. Had the Rockets not make the trade, they likely would have taken Troy Murphy, one of only five players to average at least 10 rebounds and 10 points last season. But at the time, the Rockets and many around the NBA believed the Rockets had pulled a draft-day coup. Griffin struggled in his two seasons, but he also showed flashes of the talent the Rockets saw on draft night. He averaged 8.7 points, on 38.3 percent shooting, and 5.8 rebounds while teams repeatedly tried to acquire him in trades. Griffin had slipped in the draft in part because he had been in fights at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, where he was the Parade magazine National Player of the Year, and at Seton Hall, where he was an honorable mention All-American as a freshman. The Rockets' research before the draft indicated those incidents were uncharacteristic. After learning of his first suspension, then just two games, Griffin said, he had skipped the road trip to attend to "personal, family problems." "I just had some problems I had to take care of," Griffin said then. "Things are fine now. I'm going to be back with the team. I'm going to be out for two games, but I understand because that's the best for the team because I didn't show up. I had some stuff to take care of." But Griffin skipped the next day's practice. Even when Griffin's suspension was made indefinite, Van Gundy said: "I think this is going to be a very short-term problem, one I think needed to be addressed, but not one I see going on for a long time. That begins and ends with Eddie. It's all up to Eddie." That all changed Oct. 25. The morning after Griffin had skipped a private workout the Rockets had arranged for him, police responded to a report of gunfire at Griffin's home. On Nov. 20, Griffin was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and assault with bodily injury. On Dec. 10, Griffin, in his first appearance in state felony court, was ordered to obey a curfew and undergo random drug testing as he awaits trial. Assistant District Attorney Donna Welborn said Griffin punched JoAnn Romero in the face and shot at her as she left his home. Griffin's attorneys have said they will dispute that claim. Griffin also was ordered to stand trial Jan. 20 on a misdemeanor drug possession charge. But if the incident at Griffin's home effectively ended his tenure with the Rockets, his Rockets career already had fallen far short of expectations. Now, all it will be is over. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2307158
Dec. 18, 2003, 10:38PM Taking a stand right thing to do By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle THERE is the easy thing. There is the right thing. The Rockets quite easily could have taken Eddie Griffin back under their wing in the name of expediency. After all, who needs a young, aggressive, hungry power forward more right now than the Rockets? And that, of course, is what Griffin was supposed to be before he turned into a troubled, confused, violent young man who has more important things to figure out than how to put the ball into the basket. The easy thing would have been to say Griffin is green, immature, that he made a mistake. The right thing was to recognize that violence against women does not fall under the category of a youthful indiscretion. It is a national epidemic, the dirty secret, that too often is swept under the rug, especially in the macho arena of professional sports. That will all be confirmed in a matter of hours, when word spreads of Griffin's official release by the Rockets and at least a handful of other NBA teams engage in a feeding frenzy for the rights to a fluid, athletic forward who is 6-10 and only 21 years old. Philadelphia, Toronto, Orlando, so many others, will look right past Griffin's personal problems and see only the potential points and rebounds. Coincidentally, on the very afternoon that the Rockets were cutting the cord with Griffin, Memphis coach Hubie Brown was rationalizing on Jim Rome's national radio show how his Grizzlies could make a trade to acquire notorious bad actor Bonzi Wells from Portland. "Quite honestly," Brown said, "we've had players on our teams before who would make Bonzi Wells look like Mary Poppins." Well, doesn't that make it all better? Yes, there is always outrage about something or other in sports and the matter of debating the different sides is a large part of the appeal of the endeavor. But this is not Joe Horn pulling a clever, self-promoting stunt with a cell phone or Terrell Owens whipping a Sharpie out of his sock to sign a football or Chad Johnson holding up a funny sign after scoring a touchdown to tweak the nose of the NFL brass and get the fuddy-duddys of the world incensed. When police arrived at Griffin's house after getting a call from a woman who claimed she is his girlfriend, they found blood on the sidewalk and spent shell casings. Everyone in life deserves a second or even a third chance, and Griffin has had his after being caught last season using mar1juana, missing meetings, missing practices, missing games, all without explanation. The charge now is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and by drawing the line the Rockets are taking a stand that will hurt them in the standings. But Rockets owner Leslie Alexander and general manager Carroll Dawson chose instead to be a better part of the community. Dawson is as compassionate, as decent a man as you'll ever find and did not arrive at this point without great deliberation, anguish and empathy for his player. He has worked with Griffin, worked for Griffin, worked to save Griffin from himself. Yet there comes a time when the burden shifts to the individual, and the team has to think of itself and its image, the message it is sending out as a corporate citizen. At a time when the Rockets are struggling to find an identity on the court and to fill those expensive seats at the plush Toyota Center, they cannot afford to be selling family entertainment while tacitly admitting it's OK to use half the population as a punching bag. Or worse. Just shooting a gun into the air -- one version of the incident -- can have grave consequences. The bullets do tend to come down. And who knows in the future what tripwire could next send Griffin spiraling out of control and to what end? There is a long history of outbursts, no indication that things are improving and the clock is ticking. In Portland, management is trying to purge the roster after years of turning its collective head while the team became known as the Jail Blazers and a doggedly loyal fan base eventually eroded, even rebelled. Another difficult task for the Rockets' front office will be making the players who remain understand the depth, the seriousness of Griffin's problems. As players, their first response will be to feel betrayed, and they likely will say their former teammate was done wrong. If they are given the facts, privately, and still do not see, it will speak more about their ignorance than any management callousness. This is not about wasted draft picks or missed points or rebounds that might someday have been grabbed. Basketball is the easy thing. Letting go of what Eddie Griffin stands for is what's right. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2307162
This was unfortunately inevitable. When the DA decided to go ahead and press charges, the clock started ticking. The Rockets have shown over the years that they care about having players who are known as good guys and to keep Eddie after all of this would not have been in character for them. That said, Ill reiterate what I sadi when this first started...I have been a big supporter of Eddie, and am extremely sad to see that I put my hopes behind the wrong guy this time. I dont really expect him to do well for whatever team he ends up with. He will go down in history as one of the biggest draft busts ever. It's just unfortunate that we ended up with the short end of the stick.
Wow. I knew this would be coming, but for it to actually happen is shocking. I think the sad case here is not that Griffin is apart of the Rockets any longer, but that a man of extreme talent and vast potential, who had a life any would die for, is on the brink of throwing it all away. The good thing is that he is a good person and WILL get a second chance, however, he does have a bad taste in his surroundings and whom he is friends with. From a Rockets standpoint, its too bad a trade couldnt have occurred, to atleast get something in return. But credit CD for doing what needed to be done, and acting with his head, instead of his heart. Good luck Eddie.
I still can't help thinking that alot of Eddie's problems could very well stem from a very real,but manageable mental problem. I don't understand why the Rockets couldn't have waited for two things...his continued treatment and the outcome of his legal issues. While I certainly don't condone violence against women,this young man is at a big crossroads in his life. I disagree with Fran somewhat in that the previous "chances" didn't come with a clearer explanation of what might be driving his behavior. And is dumping someone with violent episodes a better PR move than dumping someone when they're in the process of identifying possible reasons for such behavior and working to rectify it? With a possible explanation and treatment for his behavior on the horizon,it seems kind of callous to throw the kid out like cold bathwater. If they'd have kept him it seems like it would've offered a sense of support for him. I just hope the kid doesn't give up over something like this heaped on everything else that he's done to himself. Maybe I'm in the minority on this. I just don't see what's wrong with leaving him on the suspended list while he sorts out his problems.
that sucks...the only thing good i could think about is after releasing EG, we could probably free some money to go after FAs.
why would you wonder that? (other than wishful thinking) Eddie being released mean we have no rights to trade him...and the article specifically mentions that we tried to trade him and failed...no one wanted to give up anything for him. He hasnt been on the active roster all season...so we dont need to fill the hole he would have left...maybe if we are lucky they will find a PF or someone to sign outright..we have a few extra bucks and a roster spot with the release of Ben Davis and EG.
Too bad Eddie had to go. But it's for the best. He has problems and without the 4th year option, he was a lose-lose situation. If the Rockets kept him and somehow he gets better in the 2nd half and avoids jail time. And if he actually plays and looks OK, then what do the Rockets do? Give him a big contract? No Way. If he never comes back due to jail time, health problems, etc. Then the Rockets looks greedy holding on to him. Now, they wash their hands and wish him well. If another team wants to take a flyer on the guy, go for it. Too bad, what a waste of 3 first round picks. The Rockets got the wrong end of that deal! Having Troy Murphy would be nice right about now!
I still have the chat log of the NBA draft we picked up Eddie Griffin. Man, it was depressing reading through that. Everybody went ape when it was announced we had traded our 3 picks for this "stud". Hopefully Eddie gets his act together from a personal standpoint. It's sad it won't be here.
screw you eddie... how come other teams can get rid of their problem players for value (bonzi) and we can't... and eddie, i dont think you are a good person, i dont think you have a good heart... and frankly, who cares whether you play again
The positive thing about those three 1st round picks is that we saved $$$ for two of those guaranteed contracts.
OK, I'll field this: 1. Bonzi Wells actually produces on the court; and 2. He has yet to shoot a gun at anybody off of it. I could go on, but it isn't really necessary.
man this really blows. i was hopin that maybe eddie would play for the rockets again but i guess it wont happen. hopefully he will get his sh#t together and live a good life.
Wow, I am in disbelief. I was secretly hoping that this wouldn't happen. I understand Les's perspective as far as maintaining a good image in the community. AFterall he doesn't want this team to end up like a buncha thugs like the Trailblazers. But as far as I'm concerned, if he could help the team, then I would have kept him. Yes it sucks that he did all that he did, but damnit I'm tired of this losing and if he could help put an end to it, then I'm for keeping him here. I always had a hope that he would cure his depression ailments, and start showing us more flashes of some of the great moments from his rookie season. Damn, I will be pissed if he ever ends up living up to his potential with another team. What a sad turn of events this has become. We were supposed to have our starting center and our starting power forward for the next 10 years cemented! Now look at us.
I wonder about this. I can imagine he'd be pretty hard to trade one-on-one at this point, but I have to think that he'd make a pretty attractive second part of a trade. Cato and EG for a servicable PF, for example.
I don't think you can find a "serviceable" PF whose contract would work. The first problem is the total value of the two contracts is ~$10.3m. $10+m is closer to max than serviceable. I doubt we could get a max PF for them. Especially from the other teams' stand point, taking Griffin is basically just taking a flyer. The other problem is two incoming contracts. There just aren't many "serviceable" $6m-$7m PF's (combined with a smaller contract) that I can think of. Other than Kurt Thomas (who is way more than serviceable), I can't think of another who is actually better than Cato and who can backup both the 4 and the 5. IMO, the Rockets made every effort to move Griffin but the offers probably were terrible.
I could swear he read that thread in the BBS Hangout about that KKK member getting killed by a bullet coming down... Anyway, Dr of Dunk, I remember that chat, I thought we had gotten a future superstar. Kind of sad. We can consider ourselves lucky that we got another chance with Yao Ming.
