Cavs’ Koby Altman Listed Among Five In NBA ‘Facing Most Pressure’

September 25, 2024

For president of basketball of operations Koby Altman and the Cavaliers, it’s been a fairly quiet offseason.

At least, it’s been quiet when you consider how crazy things can get in the NBA. And while many others were going borderline basketball crazy, Altman and the Cavs stayed the course.

Yes, the Cavs made a coaching change, from J.B. Bickerstaff to Kenny Atkinson. But other than that … well, it’s just been a whole lot of re-signing their own players. In fact, Cleveland is just one of three teams to have not signed an outside free agent to a standard contract (with the Lakers and reigning champion Celtics being the others).

This is also a bit unusual for Altman. History shows us he’s always willing to shake things up to try to get the team to another level. Lately, it’s worked — as the Cavaliers advanced from the play-in tournament to the first round of the playoffs to the second round, respectively, in three straight seasons.

But for now, a coaching change is all that Altman felt was needed. The players? Well, the rally cry was clearly to run it back.

Because of that, Altman was placed on a list of the five people “facing the most pressure” by NBA writer Michael Pina of The Ringer. Altman was listed third, behind only 76ers center Joel Embiid and Bucks point guard Damian Lillard. Let’s listen in.

“No organization doubled down with more impunity quite like the Cavaliers this summer,” Pina wrote. “By extending Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen to contracts totaling $465.3 million, bringing Isaac Okoro back, and not trading Darius Garland, Altman has decided to run it back with a promising roster that just so happens to be in conflict with itself.”

Then there’s the coaching change.

“Atkinson is shrewd, tireless, and creative, but Cleveland’s fundamental issues may be more systemic than specific,” Pina wrote. “Bickerstaff was not incompetent. The Cavs made annual strides under his leadership. They bought into a defense-first identity and, without skipping a beat after the Mitchell trade, finished the 2022-23 season ranked second in net rating. Pretty good!”

That’s right. It was pretty good. The Cavaliers clearly believe it can get better. Pina may not.

“At what point is the need for change undeniable? Do they ride into a third straight postseason with the same configurational defect, hoping stout defense and ridiculous shotmaking can carry them to the conference finals?” Pina asked. “If not, who’s the odd man out? The answer to the latter question, through no fault of his own, is likely Allen, a productive and amiable rim-running shot blocker who gets better every year and would be embraced with open arms by about half the league.”

But wait. There’s more.

“In a lot of ways it made sense to bring everyone back,” Pina noted. “None of the contracts, as individual documents, were hastily agreed on or reek of desperation. This is a good team. If it’s content being competitive, hard to score on with a puncher’s chance to make the conference finals, tectonic trades aren’t necessary. But if things go south before February’s trade deadline, no GM would be under more pressure to course correct.

“Sometimes stability and mobility are enemies. That feels very possible here. Mitchell’s decision to stay gave everyone in Cleveland some time to catch their breath. It’s worth asking what, though, it is they’re gasping for.”

While Pina makes some valid points, I get the sense things would really, really have to head south for Altman’s job to be in danger. For now, I’m with the Cavs. If there’s no decent move out there, it’s always better to make no move than a bad one.