LAS VEGAS - Cleveland Cavaliers' General Manager David Griffin arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday to check out Joe Harris and a couple of his newest draft picks as the Cavaliers took on the Brooklyn Nets in summer league play.

At halftime he addressed the local media and discussed the LeBron James and Kevin Love signing, the Tristan Thompson negotiations, J.R. Smith's status, Mo Williams' return and a host of other newsworthy topics.

The complete interview is transcribed below.

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Is your offseason going as planned by re-signing Kevin Love?

"I don't know if it's been as smooth as you could imagine, but I'm grateful the way it's played out to this point. All of the media stuff that was out there about him in L.A. and all these other things, it was so asinine. There was no truth to any of that. And nothing was ever written about him having eyes for some place else was never in conjunction to what was said to us. We had some great meetings with him. Our meeting postseason in his exit interview with him was fantastic. He was really forthcoming about the way he feels like he can do better, things we could have done better for him, but he was never even entertaining taking a visit anywhere. So from that standpoint, I'm grateful that he felt that way about our organization.

Obviously the relationship he had with LeBron, or rather the meeting he had with LeBron was critical. Their relationship is important to us. Nobody would have ever said they had a bad relationship, but it can never be good enough either right? You can never have those guys be close enough. I think that was a real promising thing for us. Relative to LeBron, I think he was pretty clear at the end of the season that he felt like we had enough to win a championship. I think he was pleased with the way we had built the team and the things that were in place for him and he acted on that."

Do you want J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova back?

"We'd like to bring both of them back if it all can be worked out. In Delly's case, the restricted free agency is a totally different process. With J.R., I wouldn't want to characterize the discussion or anything, but he's a player I'd like to have back. We just have to find a way to make it work."

Do you want to get Tristan Thompson's deal done before you sign other players?

"I don't think so. We can focus on getting business done in whatever order it happens now. We were really fixated on getting the people done that we already have first and now I think it's just a matter of coming to an agreement with all of those people and finding the right deal for everyone. I don't think it's going to matter timing-wise."

Are you confident you'll reach a deal soon?

"I hope so. I don't know about relatively soon, but I hope so."

Does this get ugly the longer it goes?

"He's restricted. We really like him. I think we'll end up getting something done. I wouldn't characterize it as frustrating in any way."

Is there a limit to what you're willing to spend on this team?

"I don't think it's about a ceiling as much as it is about flexibility and the ability to act on an opportunity. You don't want to be spending money like a drunken sailor. It needs to be money that's warranted and I think if the right opportunity presents itself, we're still in a mode where we'll capitalize on it. But we're also not trying to manufacture the same kind of opportunities. By way of example, when we acquired the Brendan Haywood contract, we didn't have three max players and one near max player on our books. So you needed the vehicle to go get a sign-and-trade done and now we can't even receive a sign-and-trade player because we're so far over the apron we couldn't do anything to get under the apron. So it didn't enable us to go into this free agent marker and do a sign-and-trade with anyone.

So at this point, unless you can go get a piece that you really think advances the cause, it's not a function of if there's a ceiling, it's what's best for us as we go into a season. Last year we were really successful towards the end of the season because we had incredible flexibility in the middle of the season and our cap guys had found a way to create the trade exception that enabled us to get [Timofey] Mozgov. And if I can have a trade exception in January that enables us to identify a real need and based on where we're at with health, I would love to have that. So you have to weigh every opportunity that's presented to you and say is this better than being able to call our shot in the middle of the year."

What about the names that floated around in the mix with the Brendan Haywood contract?

"Again, if the names were such that we were willing to take them and not want the flexibility, we would. And right now, there hasn't been a name that's available that's worth losing that flexibility for."

When does Haywood's contract expire?

"It expires July 31. So if there's not a name that makes sense or a deal that makes sense for us by then, we can create a trade exception with it. That's something we would look to do as well."

How will Kevin Love's role expand?

"I think he and coach have had a lot of conversations about that. I think LeBron and coach have had a lot of conversations about that. Kevin enables us to have someone else carry the load when LeBron sits down once in a while too. Kyrie, I think was in a situation where he was clearly the one who was taking over when LeBron was out and I think we probably didn't utilize Kevin enough to make Kyrie's job easier either. So I think we have the ability to put him at the elbow and run offense through him more than we did and do some of the things he did very well in Minnesota. And coach, and Ty Lue and those guys have already been looking at the things he did do well there and will focus on a lot of that because it does, it takes a big part of the burden off of LeBron and off of Kyrie and obviously as we head towards the end of the season, that's important."

Is Mo Williams' play-making ability what you desired?

"I think quite a bit, but for me, the beauty of Mo is more in his floor spacing-shooting than it is his play-creation. Now if we end up in a situation like we were in the Finals last year where we're going to need the ability to break people down, but we already have three really ball-dominant special play-creator types. So I see him playing off the ball a great amount too and he enables us to do the same thing with Kyrie. Those interchangeable spots. Mo's signing is a really good deal for us. It really gives us a level of versatility that I wish we had in the Finals."

What's your position of need?

"I think if you look at our roster, even if we had J.R., we still need a three behind LeBron. Somebody that could consistently take some burden off of him. We're watching Summer League to see if there's the right piece there. We're looking at the free agent pool and seeing if there's a piece that makes sense for us there, as well. We're obviously limited in the vehicles we have to sign anybody with. There's high-value target that you can't afford because we just don't have a vehicle to get them. Again, not being able to do a sign-and-trade hampered us a bit."

Why aren't many players doing the one-and-done contracts to cash out when the TV deal kicks in?

"And I think the reason for that is there's really only so many my people that are a given to get every dollar in the system. Those are true max players. Everybody else wants security. I think Kevin [Love] could have done a one-and-one if that's what was in his heart, but I also think the fact that he wanted to be tied to something and know what his future was, was meaningful to him. But for the most part, there's a really, really small pool of guys who can dictate outcome on something like that. LeBron is clearly one of those guys because everybody in the NBA would create cap space to sign him. So, I think that's why he and Dwyane [Wade] did what they did because they can."

Do you focus on what other teams are doing or just focus on the team?

"I think it's both. We have to do what's right for us and build our team according to what we need in our locker room, but I pay a lot of attention to what teams, even in our conference are doing. The East got better. They got a lot better and that's not necessarily good for us, but we can't react to anything they are doing either...It doesn't mean anything for us. It's not going to change what we need or believe in, but we're certainly cognizant of it."

Any update on the condition of Kyrie and Anderson Varejao?

"Kyrie is rehabbing well. He's in Miami. He's doing really well actually with his rehab protocol. He feels very good. He's certainly on pace right now for where we need to be. Andy, similarly, feels very good. He actually wanted to try to dress in the Finals and wasn't real happy that we didn't let him to do it. So, I anticipate he'll be ready for the start of camp."

Any fear Kevin won't be ready for camp?

"None. We think we'll have everybody healthy for camp."