According to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski, the Cleveland Cavaliers and general manager Koby Altman have agreed to a long term contract extension.
Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman has agreed to a long-term contract extension, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 1, 2019
The terms of the deal have yet to be released.
Cleveland Cavaliers and Koby Altman Agree to Long Term Deal
The Cleveland Cavaliers have their general manager, Koby Altman, locked up long term. This is a major move by team owner Dan Gilbert. He has had a penchant for letting front office members walk when their contracts expire.
Altman replaced current New Orleans Pelicans vice president of basketball operations David Griffin. Griffin is a very well respected executive in today’s NBA. He helped build the Cavaliers’ roster around LeBron James en route to the 2016 NBA Championship.
Following the 2016-17 season, Griffin’s contract expired and was surprisingly not renewed. The Cavaliers decided to go in-house and promoted Altman from his assistant general manager role.
An Immediate Hurdle for Koby Altman
It didn’t take long for Altman to have to overcome adversity, however. In the summer of 2017, star point guard Kyrie Irving requested a trade.
When Irving’s trade request became public it really drove his value down. Altman essentially got what he could for his disgruntled point guard. Altman dealt Irving to the Boston Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Ante Zizic, Jae Crowder, and a 2020 second-round pick.
While the trade itself didn’t work out directly for the Cavaliers, Altman was able to turn Thomas and Crowder into Rodney Hood, George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr.
It was pretty remarkable for a rookie general manager to be put in that situation and have some success. Not only are Clarkson and Nance vital members of the present-day Cavaliers, but Altman was also able to turn Hood and Hill into young prospects.
Re-Structuring the Cleveland Cavaliers
After James bolted for the Los Angeles Lakers, Altman had a few roster decisions to make. The Cavaliers were built around James with a lot of veteran role players. They also had to make a decision on Kevin Love and his contract extension.
As Love was entering the last year of his contract, the Cavaliers decided to extend him in the summer of 2018. Love signed a four-year, $120 million extension.
The Cavaliers signaled they were going to try to continue to compete as they still had a solid roster full of guys who knew how to win. However, it didn’t take long to realize that wouldn’t be the case.
When it became apparent the Cavaliers wouldn’t remain competitive, Altman was essentially able to turn Hill, Hood, and Kyle Korver into young prospects and better contract situations. He turned those three players into Kevin Porter Jr., Dylan Windler, Brandon Knight (expiring contract), John Henson (expiring contract), Matthew Dellavedova (expiring contract), a first-round pick, and three second-round picks.
Altman has many valuable assets currently on the roster in which he will have to make a decision at this season’s trade deadline. Players like Tristan Thompson, Clarkson, Henson, Knight, and Dellavedova could all end up on contending teams, which could net the Cavaliers more assets.
The Cavaliers, however, could elect to keep these guys. They are off to a surprising start this season and currently sit in seventh place in the East. However, it’s not only their ranking in the conference that inspires hope. It’s the way they have competed in the early season.
Whatever the case may be, Altman has set the Cavaliers up to have a quick rebuild.
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