Behind the thinking: GM Koby Altman on the Cavs' wild day
It turns out the Cavs actually had been every bit the disjointed, dysfunctional, disappointing mess they appeared to be during the past several weeks. And maybe even worse.
Thursday night, Cavs general manager Koby Altman admitted as much in a conference call regarding the whirlwind trade deadline day. The Cavs shipped out six players, added four others and go forward as a different team.
Necessarily different.
“We were marching towards a slow death,” Altman said. “We didn't want to be a part of that.”
The moves, including dumping Isaiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade and parting with the Cavs' own 2018 first-round pick while keeping the one that belongs to the Nets, have been outlined in prior stories, particularly here and here. Below, we peek a little further into five things Altman addressed Thursday evening, after all three trades had been made official.
1. “It's obvious the goal was to get younger.”
Old and angry is for folks on Twitter, not an NBA team. And the Cavs were not only too old but apparently too sour to sort things through on their own. So, Altman and team owner Dan Gilbert brought the proverbial dynamite.
“We saw the lack of energy and enthusiasm,” Altman said.
Later, he said, “We were worried about what was going on when we were on the floor, and sort of our culture in the building.” It wasn't just that the Cavs had pretty much stunk lately. It's that the stink was lingering, festering, growing.
“We're just going to be fun again,” Altman said. “Fun to watch and fun to be around.”
2. LeBron hovers. LeBron matters.
Everyone knows that free agency beckons, and that the world's greatest player isn't getting any younger, and that neither his body language nor his play has been stellar. But the Cavs need LeBron James, want James for the long haul and clearly believe that, regardless of his level of input, he's on board with this in-season reconstruction.
“We think we're going to get a rejuvenated LeBron,” Altman said. “And that's the key.
“I think he's excited and that there's a renewed sense of excitement and joy when he's in the building. That will translate to some fun basketball because he's the key. He's the guy that's going to take us back to the Promised Land, so you want to put the right pieces around him.”
Altman said he believes the Cavs are more talented than they were 24 hours prior, and though he acknowledged not knowing how the players will jell or how things will turn out, he's optimistic the Cavs made significant upgrades.
“We're a lot more athletic and we're just excited about where it can go,” Altman said.
3. The Isaiah Thomas thing just wasn't going to work.
Again, it was obvious if you've been watching. And Thomas was in a bad spot while rehabbing from injury, adapting to a new role and new city, trying to get his shots up and get his rhythm back while getting absolutely smoked by just about every guy he was guarding. But whatever was going on behind the scenes was apparently just as bad.
“(Trading Thomas) is not something I wanted to do,” Altman said. “Selfishly, I wanted to see it work. The level of value we got back in the Kyrie Irving trade was pretty good. Did it fit? Did it work? Probably not. So with those pieces, we just tried to shuffle the deck and get younger and get some youthful talent with energy and enthusiasm … great cultural pieces.”
He kept using words like “fit” and “culture.” He didn't have to say Thomas' name directly.
“I feel much better about us culturally,” Altman said. “I feel much better about the air in the building. That sort of stuff you can't quantify, but I do know that it matters. It's a big deal to me.”
4. Not just younger, but better. Hopefully, anyway.
Rodney Hood was averaging nearly 17 points per game for the Jazz. Jordan Clarkson made shots and handled the ball for the Lakers, generally as the sixth man. George Hill can make shots and has played in big games. There will be immediate minutes for Larry Nance Jr., who at 25 is the same age as Clarkson and Hood. Maybe the Cavs can make these pieces work now and into the future.
Joy and culture are nice. Making shots and playing much-improved defense would be nicer. Altman seemed especially excited about Hood, calling him “a dynamic talent. He's a 6-foot-8 two guard, and that's just not normal. He's a lefty, so he's unorthodox. He's hard to guard. He can move his feet, can defend.
“We found out a kid with that much talent was on the market, and we wanted to explore it.”
Also, Altman noted that the decision to move Wade was partly based upon the fact rookie Cedi Osman has earned more minutes and could end up earning a permanent spot in the rotation.
5. Nance. That name sounds familiar.
His dad was a Cavs legend whose jersey is retired. He played high school basketball just down the highway from where the Cavs train. He gets to play for a winner — ideally, anyway — and play in front of family and friends.
“The kid was borderline in tears when I called him,” Altman said.
Nance Jr. will be an instant fan favorite. If he delivers a few highlight-reel dunks and a few 12-rebound nights, the city will go wild. Folks are excited about the Cavs again. And by all accounts, that includes those inside the building.
It turns out the Cavs actually had been every bit the disjointed, dysfunctional, disappointing mess they appeared to be during the past several weeks. And maybe even worse.
Thursday night, Cavs general manager Koby Altman admitted as much in a conference call regarding the whirlwind trade deadline day. The Cavs shipped out six players, added four others and go forward as a different team.
Necessarily different.
“We were marching towards a slow death,” Altman said. “We didn't want to be a part of that.”
The moves, including dumping Isaiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade and parting with the Cavs' own 2018 first-round pick while keeping the one that belongs to the Nets, have been outlined in prior stories, particularly here and here. Below, we peek a little further into five things Altman addressed Thursday evening, after all three trades had been made official.
1. “It's obvious the goal was to get younger.”
Old and angry is for folks on Twitter, not an NBA team. And the Cavs were not only too old but apparently too sour to sort things through on their own. So, Altman and team owner Dan Gilbert brought the proverbial dynamite.
“We saw the lack of energy and enthusiasm,” Altman said.
Later, he said, “We were worried about what was going on when we were on the floor, and sort of our culture in the building.” It wasn't just that the Cavs had pretty much stunk lately. It's that the stink was lingering, festering, growing.
“We're just going to be fun again,” Altman said. “Fun to watch and fun to be around.”
2. LeBron hovers. LeBron matters.
Everyone knows that free agency beckons, and that the world's greatest player isn't getting any younger, and that neither his body language nor his play has been stellar. But the Cavs need LeBron James, want James for the long haul and clearly believe that, regardless of his level of input, he's on board with this in-season reconstruction.
“We think we're going to get a rejuvenated LeBron,” Altman said. “And that's the key.
“I think he's excited and that there's a renewed sense of excitement and joy when he's in the building. That will translate to some fun basketball because he's the key. He's the guy that's going to take us back to the Promised Land, so you want to put the right pieces around him.”
Altman said he believes the Cavs are more talented than they were 24 hours prior, and though he acknowledged not knowing how the players will jell or how things will turn out, he's optimistic the Cavs made significant upgrades.
“We're a lot more athletic and we're just excited about where it can go,” Altman said.
3. The Isaiah Thomas thing just wasn't going to work.
Again, it was obvious if you've been watching. And Thomas was in a bad spot while rehabbing from injury, adapting to a new role and new city, trying to get his shots up and get his rhythm back while getting absolutely smoked by just about every guy he was guarding. But whatever was going on behind the scenes was apparently just as bad.
“(Trading Thomas) is not something I wanted to do,” Altman said. “Selfishly, I wanted to see it work. The level of value we got back in the Kyrie Irving trade was pretty good. Did it fit? Did it work? Probably not. So with those pieces, we just tried to shuffle the deck and get younger and get some youthful talent with energy and enthusiasm … great cultural pieces.”
He kept using words like “fit” and “culture.” He didn't have to say Thomas' name directly.
“I feel much better about us culturally,” Altman said. “I feel much better about the air in the building. That sort of stuff you can't quantify, but I do know that it matters. It's a big deal to me.”
4. Not just younger, but better. Hopefully, anyway.
Rodney Hood was averaging nearly 17 points per game for the Jazz. Jordan Clarkson made shots and handled the ball for the Lakers, generally as the sixth man. George Hill can make shots and has played in big games. There will be immediate minutes for Larry Nance Jr., who at 25 is the same age as Clarkson and Hood. Maybe the Cavs can make these pieces work now and into the future.
Joy and culture are nice. Making shots and playing much-improved defense would be nicer. Altman seemed especially excited about Hood, calling him “a dynamic talent. He's a 6-foot-8 two guard, and that's just not normal. He's a lefty, so he's unorthodox. He's hard to guard. He can move his feet, can defend.
“We found out a kid with that much talent was on the market, and we wanted to explore it.”
Also, Altman noted that the decision to move Wade was partly based upon the fact rookie Cedi Osman has earned more minutes and could end up earning a permanent spot in the rotation.
5. Nance. That name sounds familiar.
His dad was a Cavs legend whose jersey is retired. He played high school basketball just down the highway from where the Cavs train. He gets to play for a winner — ideally, anyway — and play in front of family and friends.
“The kid was borderline in tears when I called him,” Altman said.
Nance Jr. will be an instant fan favorite. If he delivers a few highlight-reel dunks and a few 12-rebound nights, the city will go wild. Folks are excited about the Cavs again. And by all accounts, that includes those inside the building.
