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Say this for the Cleveland Cavaliers: After getting outgunned against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, and with LeBron James' 2018 free agency decision creeping up, they are not standing pat. In the span of a few hours Monday, reports surfaced that they were in trade talks for Paul George and Jimmy Butler. Then they suddenly cut ties with general manager David Griffin, who wasn't exactly lounging by the pool when he got the news. 

That Cavs owner Dan Gilbert would make a move like this, at a time like this, reportedly to the surprise and disappointment of LeBron James (which we'll get to in a minute), shows the urgency the Cavs are feeling. The Warriors have put the league on alert, and teams are responding. The Celtics traded the No. 1 pick to Philly and may have more moves in store. The Lakers, Celtics, Clippers and now the Raptors have entered the George sweepstakes. We've heard talk about Chris Paul to the Spurs. Gordon Hayward and/or Blake Griffin are big-name free agents. It looks like Butler may not be a Bull for long. 

So the league is mobilizing against Golden State, and the Cavs want in on the action. But to dump David Griffin in the middle of it all without consulting James? That is dangerous, particularly after the way Gilbert alienated James when he left for Miami. Does this sound like a happy superstar?

LeBron is watching and, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, assistant GM Koby Altman is all of a sudden the man fielding trade calls. In a lot of ways, Gilbert is running the team with the draft and the opening of free agency right around the corner -- a time when having a stable front office might be slightly important. 

On that note, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported that Chauncey Billups, who has zero front office experience since retiring as a player, has emerged as Gilbert's top target to become Cleveland's president of basketball operations, with Billups then hiring someone with day-to-day front office experience as general manager. 

Whoever Gilbert hires, he will step into immediate pressure. Those Butler talks? They better get right back on track, or they better get their hands on George, even if it's only as a one-year rental before he, too, can walk in 2018. Right now, getting a deal done for one of those two, whether by involving a third team to provide the assets they don't have or otherwise, looks like the only way Cleveland comes out of this situation better off.      

And again, the Cavs have to get better now. With James' walk year approaching, patience could prove fatal. 

To get Butler or George, the Cavs more than likely would have to give up Kevin Love. They have zero cap space to land an impact free agent like Hayward, and don't have a draft pick available to trade until 2021. Barring a deal for Kyrie Irving, which seems highly doubtful, Love is the only asset they have with enough value to net the return they need.  

Maybe Griffin and Gilbert didn't see eye to eye on this. Giving up Love in a deal for George is sketchy since he can turn around and leave in 2018, where Butler is locked up for the next two years. But a deal for George does make sense if it winds up on the table. He makes them markedly better at both ends of the floor. Butler makes the Cavs better than they are with Love, too, but George is a bit better than Butler overall, and he's more versatile in terms of matching up with the Warriors. 

Either way, the Cavs should go after one of them. They are not good enough to beat the Warriors as constructed. What's more, if they let Boston swoop in and get Butler, and don't make any of their own moves to counter, beating the Warriors may be the least of their concerns. They may not even be the best team in the East. With these moves possibly playing out over the next few days or maybe even few hours, urgency is high, and the Cavs are without a general manager. 

So, yeah, things have gotten messy in Cleveland at a not-so-great time. And if they don't get it cleaned up in time to make a move that would represent significant progress in the chase for Golden State, if they find themselves on the outside looking in as George and Butler go elsewhere, then whoever replaces Griffin could end up facing a bigger problem down the road. 

Life without LeBron.