Following a third straight season of finishing with one of the NBA’s worst records, Dan Gilbert and the rest of the Cavaliers’ ownership team are evaluating whether to move ahead with the current front office, league sources told FortyEightMinutes.
While no decision has been reached, the status of general manager Koby Altman appears to be very much up in the air after the Cavs stumbled to another finish. In the past three seasons, the Cavs have compiled records of 19-63, 19-46 and 22-50, respectively.
This season, they lost 16 of their final 18 games, including an 11-game skid that lasted nearly a month.
Sources said Gilbert and other key decision-makers are cognizant of the fact Altman is focused on a rebuild with a youth movement centered on guards Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, center Jarrett Allen and rookie forward Isaac Okoro, and that rebuilds can take time.
But a several dramas have ownership wondering about the stability of the front office and the culture in the locker room, sources said.
Since 2018-19, the Cavs have had four coaches. This year, they traded promising prospect Kevin Porter Jr. to the Rockets and benched center Andre Drummond for a month before reaching a contract buyout. Both of those decisions baffled the team’s veterans and were called into question by the agents for potential free-agent or trade prospects reached by FortyEightMinutes.
The Cavs have also been a major disappointment in free agency, not even going after some younger veterans that were open to signing in Cleveland.
For instance, when FortyEightMinutes wrote during the offseason the Cavs might have an interest in free agent forwards Josh Jackson or Derrick Jones Jr., a team spokesman responded by saying the Cavs had no interest in either player. Jackson went on to sign with the Pistons and put together his best pro season, and Jones did the same with the Trail Blazers.
One option the Cavs are considering is hiring a respected voice to serve in a president of basketball operations role and oversee the entire front office, including Altman, sources said.
Another option under consideration, per sources, is to bring in a proven front office man, perhaps a former player, as a high-profile team advisor, or “special consultant.” Bernie Bickerstaff, the father of coach J.B. Bickerstaff, currently holds the title of Cavs senior advisor.
Either way, the Cavs are headed back to the draft lottery despite already landing five first-round picks over the past three seasons, including three lottery picks.
But the lottery is more than a month away (June 29), and it’s pretty clear the Cavs will use that time to determine who will be running their basketball operations moving forward.
Altman has been Cavs GM since 2018, taking over after Gilbert and former GM David Griffin failed to reach agreement on a new contract for Griffin.
Meanwhile, Gilbert is continuing to make positive steps after suffering a stroke in May 2019. A recent report from The Athletic suggested Gilbert’s son, Grant Gilbert, is prepping to take over the team.
FortyEightMinutes sources did not confirm the report on Grant Gilbert.
When looking at this past season, there’s plenty to talk about with Altman..
But going back a little further in the timeline, it becomes clear that other steps now feel like misteps a few years later.
Not getting more in trading away NBA champions, not making the moves to keep LeBron in Cleveland for another season, wasting time with Belien, Drummond, KPJ, and anybody else who had no future with the team. Turns out Ty Lue thought his firing was unfair and wanted to try go build something in Cleveland. Id much rather have Lue as the coach right now than Bickerstaff.
Draft wise, its hard not to hit on talent drafting that high that many years in a row. There are a lot of choices picked 5th or after that would have improved this team or set up a brighter future. We got the guys we got, but what are we doing with them? Surrounding with a winning culture? Not trying to win, brainwashing them that moral victories are good enough, this is the wrong direction. And with all the “future” talk, who knows if they’ll still be around or healthy when “the future” arrives. As other guys in the original “future” plans have already been fired/traded/paid to sit without the payoff.
Altman didnt start with lemons, trying to make lemonade. He was handed an Eastern Conference champion. Regardless of the excuses that can be made, this is the team now, all these years later. One of the worst in the league, with a very questionable team culture.
Its time to turn this thing over to some real professionals, and people who have won things in the NBA, understand this league and its players, and what is needed to win.