Koby Altman Vows Cleveland Cavaliers’ Window is ‘WIDE OPEN’ | What Does The FUTURE Hold?

Koby Altman Vows Cleveland Cavaliers’ Window is ‘WIDE OPEN’ | What Does The FUTURE Hold?

Heat. Heat. Oh no. What’s going on Cavs fans? Spencer German, Spencer Davies with you here with another episode of Courtside with the Cavs on SI. a special episode after we hear from Kobe Alman, president of basketball operations here with the Cleveland Cavaliers and a lot to talk about Spence as we Kobe sets the stage essentially for what the summer’s going to look like for this Cavaliers team. Will there be changes? Won’t there be changes? Those types of conversations and I think the starting place for this conversation does need to sort of revolve around the fact that he came right out of the gate and said and made it very clear, listen, we’ll be back. Uh our window is wide open. He wanted to get that off that that was in his like opening statement before he even took questions. He is making it very clear that they believe that this is just the beginning stages of this team and what they can do and they’re reaching their full potential. And I’ll say this too, the other thing he harped on, I mean it came up six, seven, maybe more times is part of the reason he believes that is because he thinks that development is so such a big part of this team’s foundation and where they’re going to kind of go from here. And that starts with Evan Mobley. He mentioned at least eight times like I said like Evan Moy’s development. He’s only 23. Him taking that next step. He took a big step this year, but he’s going to take another step. And that seems to be the biggest thing giving him faith as to why this team falling short this year isn’t the end of the world and there’s still a bright future for this franchise. Which why wouldn’t it? Because when you look at the regular season and how he made a jump for being somebody who used to not be able to space the floor to somebody who was shooting a clip above 37 38% from deep, stretching it, doing a really good job of initiating offense, trusting his guys off the ball. I think that that stuff was real. Now, has he done it at a playoff level? No. And that was a different thing for him as an adjustment for him. And he kept talking about field goal attempts for Evan Mobley. 13’s not enough. But this is also new to him. A lot of this is new to the team, too. But particularly, they go as Evan Mobley goes, and that is what needs to change next year. And that’s what the offseason program with Kenny Atinson’s going to do is get Evan used to usage, that higher usage, making sure that he can be the go-to guy and the best player particularly on this team. And I do think like if as we’re as we’re as we’re taking stock of the season and and and how it fell short and we’re reflecting on it all and how disappointing it was and I didn’t get a chance to ask Kobe like if he thought the season was a success. I I actually really wanted to ask him that cuz Kenny got asked the exact same question and Kenny stopped short of calling it a success. He said he thought they got better but he couldn’t call it a success. Like but as we sort of decide if this is the case like I like I think there is something to be said. If you’re looking for some reason for optimism, if you’re looking for something to hold on to as to why how this all fell apart wasn’t the end of the world, it is that thing. Like I can give I give Kobe a lot of a lot of credit for fact that like they drafted Evan Mobley, they’re developing Evan Mobley. He took that next step. There is another level to his game that we think he can reach. That does have a play a huge role in what this team can do moving forward. I also think though, Spence, we’re talking about the same basic group of guys for three straight years now, and it’s hard for me to have like it’s hard for me to think that that’s the only thing that needs to change for this team to get over that hump. Like, I I think there is another level that he can reach. And I do think that will impact where the Cavs can go and if they’re a championship contender or not. But I also think that two things can be true. I think Evan does reach another level that helps this team get maybe further in the playoffs. I also think there can be things that need changed in parts that you might need to tweak in order to also get yourself over that help and get you to a place where you can achieve the larger goal that the team had and obviously fell very short of. You have to be open to conversations at the very least. Now, the ideas that we’re seeing spread around X and Twitter right now, I’m not so sure about, but this is what happens with the territory. Kobe said it. I would want to be in this position. I want to have these talks and be questioned because that means that we’re doing something right. That means we’re on the right track. What do you look at when it comes to the core four? Like I think the most obvious one that could be, you know, some sort of a change would be like, you know, maybe looking at Jared Allen’s role on the team because of Evan’s de development. Evan should probably be the starting center, right? Like just because of how far he’s come. Uh, but that’s not taking away anything that Jarrett’s done all these years. It’s just a fit thing. It’s also, you know, matchups and stuff like that. So, that’s the first thing I would look at. Yeah. Because keeping the core four together is really tough when you want to field a full roster around them in this situation, especially given, you know, Ja for all of his faults and stuff like that. He’s been amazing defensively. He’s done a really good job of accepting his roles and whatnot, but just not getting enough from him. Yeah. uh even with those lower usage roles like I think that is a fair question especially after you know two three playoff series where where we’ve seen it and I know that last year he got hurt. He showed a lot of guts in that Orlando series but he also played 82 games a full 91 if you will with the nine uh in the postseason but I think that’s the first guy you look at. I don’t think you look at Evan Mobley. I think that is way too hard to not gamble on somebody like that especially with the potential he’s shown you. I think Darius Garland, you can give a reprieve because he was playing on, as Kobe said, nine toes and he had a terrific, terrific regular season. Yeah. And he’s somebody that really initiates their offense and he also creates so much for them offensively. I don’t think that’s a conversation you really can have unless there’s some offer that really blow blows you away. And then I mean, Donovan’s not going anywhere. You can see how much respect that everyone has in the locker room for that. and you have so many people up top that just see his dedication to the work and also him playing through his injuries and all that stuff. So, it’s not an easy subject to broach, but you have to be open to the conversations just because of the results that you’ve had the last three years. I think this is a good place to get into the Jared Allen part of this because you and I have both cited him as maybe the first piece you look at if you’re talking about core four members that need to be moved um to make some changes potentially. And it gets difficult with the a second apron. We’ll get into Kobe’s comments on that here coming up. But specific to Jarrett, he was asked specifically about Jarrett and his role. And there’s a couple things that he said that kind of annoyed me. One was he brought up the fact that, you know, if you asked Jerry himself like how he felt about his post his playoff series, he’d probably tell you like he knows he has to take his game up to another intensity. And my my thing with that is like, okay, with somebody like Moy, I get the argument of that. Like, hey, there’s another level to to this for him. Even DG Jared is now a seasoned veteran, 27 years old. like there I I I can’t keep making I can’t keep just banking on like he’s got to take it up another level. He’s still learning. He’s still seeing things like no he has seen enough in the playoffs for me to feel like this is just who he is now. And I again I I say this and it sounds super critical. I love Jared Allen. I think Jared Allen is a great player in the NBA. I just don’t know if like what he gives you fits anymore with what where this team is trying to go. I think he got the team to a point. I think he he does certain things well. But in the playoffs, we’ve seen him disappear. Whether it was for injury last year, which is a different conversation, or this year, it just felt like he kind of didn’t fit this series when you’re going against an Indiana team that plays five out and he can’t necessarily defend on the perimeter as well. Like there’s just limitations to what he brings to the table. And so I can’t just fall back on I can fall back on that with Evan. Yes, he can. He’s still learning things. He’s 23. I can’t fall back on that with Jared Allen, who’s now 27, who’s a veteran in this league, who’s been in multiple playoff runs at this point. Like, I I just can’t do it anymore. So, as we talk about like changes that need to make, I still think Jared’s at the forefront of that. I also think, too, cuz Kobe brought this up. He used the example of of Miles Turner on the Pacers as a guy who like, you know, early in his career, he was floated as a guy that they needed to trade and move on from and they stuck by him and and now look what they’re doing. Guys, that was a completely different situation cuz Miles Turner was basically the Evan Mobley in that situation. I’m not saying they’re the same players. I’m just saying Miles Turner was fresh young guy coming in learning the ropes getting used to the playoffs and yeah he said like the Pacers had what was it like five first round exits or something like that in the playoffs with early early on in Milestone his career that’s cool but that’s a different situation he was still so young he was kind of learning how to do things he was the Evan Moy in that situation this is a guy in Jared Allen who is not on the same level of like he he’s a veteran at this point like he should know Miles Turner’s team has taken that next leap with him like they figured out a nice role for him. So, I can’t again I can’t fall back on that as my thing. Kobe did say that he thinks Jared Allen is still important to what they want to do. But I will say this, last year there was a lot more mention of like the core four and he used that term like he would say the core four. He would talk about all four of those guys uh as a group. This year it was a lot more of Moley, Donovan and Darius and a lot less of Jared Allen which I think is pretty notable. It is notable and I think with Jared I think he still can get better. I’m not saying that, you know, development doesn’t happen after 27. That’s ridiculous. I think everyone develops until they’re pretty much done with their career just cuz they have to evolve, they have to adapt and all that stuff. But the conversation we had before the intrinsic nature of toughness and physicality, which he has had because playing a full season of NBA games, playing all every single game this year, it absolutely exhibits a toughness. Not taking that away at all. I just think with Evans growth and now him seeing five out situations even offensively for him, I think that he might have outgrown that pairing. It’s a good way to put it to be him. Really good way to put it and and have that higher usage and also be more of a hub now to where you saw it. Jared’s usage was so down this year. Yeah. So that’s where you look at the the offensive output and stuff like that is different because he’s not really used to he’s he’s Jared sacrificed a ton this year. He he you know he could have been bitching and moaning about not being a 20 and 12 guy cuz that’s what he can be in this league. If he gets dealt somewhere I guarantee you he will be a 20 and 12 guy. That is what he is. But this team doesn’t need that version of him anymore because Evan is too good and and and is getting better. And Darius and Donovan also prove that they could play together this year. Maybe not so much in the playoffs. That was injury related, I think, in my opinion, but we’ll get to that. But in terms of the Jarrett conversation, I just think that Evans ascension has kind of just led to this point and they were always banking on that. He just wasn’t ready those first, you know, four years that they were together and now it’s time maybe to move on. That’s my thought. That’s a really good point, Spence. It’s well said, well articulated. I I think like this team’s success moving forward does hinge on I think Evan playing the majority of minutes at the five. Oh, yeah. And I think that obviously then sort of eliminates Jared’s role to an extent. We did get this comment here. Uh I’m going to they have I guess there’s a second step now to this. Uh if you want to trade J uh JA, you can’t just start Hunter uh at the four for rebounding purposes. You’ll need a good rebounding four beside Moy. And I think Spence, you and I have both kind of alluded to the idea that like yeah, the idea here would be that he that Hunter goes to the three spot primarily and then from there you find if you were trading Jarrett, you would try to find somebody who could sort of fit that. And you’d have to get a you’d have to get a core player back too. Like you would have to get a starter back for Jared Allen. He’s too good. He’s too talented and he’s got a really good contract too. So like a lot of teams are going to look at that. You know, you see all these ideas floated around. You think about who needs centers. Like there are there are plenty of people that need centers. They need defense and need someone reliable as a lob threat. And Jarrett is so good out of playmaking, out of the role, too. Like this is just a situation where there’s too many cooks in the kitchen. This is all that is. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that’s well said. And obviously things get complicated this off season because the Brown the Browns the Cavs are likely to be a second apron team. Kobe used the word like if we’re a second apron team, which makes it sound like maybe they have a little more flexibility than people think to maybe avoid that this offseason. So, we’ll see what all that looks like. But, I think the assumption right now is that they’re going to be a second apron team and that makes things very difficult in terms of what they can do. If they’re going to trade somebody like Jarrett, the salaries basically have to match and you can’t attach like you can’t trade Jarrett and say like Isaac Aor. It’s called aggregating salaries. Yes. It has to be like if Jared’s making 20 million this year, which I think is exactly his number. they have to find somebody who’s willing to trade maybe two players who equal out to that. Now, you can trade for picks and things like that. And you can also get third team involved, fourth team involved. That’s also doable. So, there’s ways to do that, but it’s it’s going to get kind of interesting and convoluted in terms of how they do those things and it’s not as simple as it used to be where it’s just like trade this guy plus this guy. Like, so it gets complicated. What I think was interesting though along those lines is that he talked about uh having support from Dan Gilbert both financially but also just like in terms of the process. And I I think this is interesting because Dan Gilbert I think gets a bad rep overall just as like I think all owners do, right? Like everyone blames owners for everything. Um but in the grand scheme of things like I think we’re a long way from like Dan Gilbert comic sands letter, right? Like he’s he’s not the same guy anymore. And I do think you talk about learning, right? I think he’s learned a lot about like the process of building an NBA team. And so I do think he trusts these guys to to do this thing the right way. And and I I I think Kobe is actually the biggest example of that cuz how many years did we see him just like move on from a GM before they really got their got their hands dirty with things. He has stuck by Kobe and he’s trusted this process. And so I believe Kobe when he says, “Yeah, like Dan is the person who like exudes that patience the most and wants us to kind of like go out and keep pushing the envelope and what we can do, but also understanding like this thing could take time.” I think there’s some truth in that. And so it’s it’s I I like Dan Gilbert has never shied away from at least since they since he agreed to have LeBron come back that second time and do everything that they did. He has never been shy about spending. It sounds like he’s willing to spend in the tax if he needs to for multiple seasons if he has to and that’s going to be part of the game plan here. And he is investing in this team moving forward which I think is a good thing in in the long term for Cassand. It’s not just going to be this like panic button blow it all up and start all over which is good. It’s helpful to have an owner that’s willing to open the pockets. I was reading stuff, you know, obviously the luxury text comes into play when even you’re resigning your own players, you have to deep, you know, dig deep. Like I think I read somewhere that overall it would cost, especially if Evan Mobley makes all NBA that signing resigning Ty Jerome for 10 million would cost them like 63 million. I think it was John John Hollinger on the Athletic that said that. That’s a lot of money. It’s a lot of money. But Dan is willing to pay the price for a contender for somebody that’s going to grow along with the team. Now, with Ty Jerome, I’m sure we’ll get into this conversation next. That’s a little bit different of a story in my opinion, but I did Can I hit on one thing that that Kobe said that that you you you said something that irked you a little bit. My problem with one of the things that Kobe said was talking about, and I usually preach this, by the way, to preface this, I usually preach the patience. I usually preach sticking together, making sure that this thing you go through these things because you have to. He mentioned Boston, we’re on the same page with this one. Indiana, we’re on the same page with this one. You know, um, even OKC to a point. Yeah. You look at those teams and yes, some of their core stuck together. Yeah. For that. Some you have to figure out as a GM what that sum is, who that sum is, but not every one of those players on those teams stuck together throughout. And the example you brought up earlier when we were talking was about Marcus Smart being the heart and soul of Boston. They had to jettison him to get, you know, guys like like uh Derek White and Drew Holiday in there. I know that wasn’t the exact move, but what I’m saying is they got rid of that point guard, brought in a couple other guards, and obviously did an amazing job of acquiring talent that way. They ended up getting going out and getting Christophorzingis, right? Um you can look at the Indiana team. He’s talking about Miles Turner stuck around that whole time, right? Well, Victor Oladipo and Demanis Sabonis were those two top players on that team or that at that time. You look at OKC, they went out and acquired uh Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hardstein this summer. Yeah. So, you have to add pieces. You have to figure out what fits around. And I know that results are very set in stone and stuff like that, but these are also things you have to think about when it comes to building a team because it’s not going to always be the same exact people in the building. and that’s really hard to keep together, especially when you want to supplement your best players. So, I’m with you. I don’t know if it’s time for a change. I’m kind of leaning that way. Um, as far as as at least one of the core four probably has to go and you figure out what you surround him with after that. I’m glad you brought this up because I’ve been banging this drum for a while, especially as in relation to the Celtics because I know that was the team Kobe cited last year. Um, and I think like, yeah, I like I think that it I I get what he’s saying. Like, yes, they were patient with especially two of those guys. It was Tatum and Brown. They stuck it out with them. They were patient with them. They didn’t rush things with those two. But again, that’s picking two guys of the core and saying, “These are the ones that we’re sort of banking on and that we’re investing in and building around.” The Thunder are the closest example to the Cavs right now, which is like young team. They have their core all still there and they’re sort of leaning on those guys being there for a while. But even like you said, they added a Caruso. Like they added pieces that were going to help them get over that hump to the point where now they’re playing in the Western Conference Finals and they’re the favorites still to win the NBA finals. Like you you can’t and you could argue like yeah, Max Truce was an addition. I get that. DeAndre Hunter was an addition. I get that. But it took the Celtics taking the heart and soul of their team and trading him and then bringing in Porzingis, bringing in Drew Holiday to get them over that hump to get to a championship. So I think those examples that yeah, you can find some similarities there, but you also have to realize like it’s not apples to apples unless you do what they did. And so I I still think like that’s why I think breaking up the core four might end up being the way you have to go here. You might have to just change out some pieces and parts and that’s okay. And Denver also too, man. you go out and get an Aaron Gordon like you know you look at that over the hump got them over the hump like KCP like like these are things they have to think about it’s not saying blow the whole damn thing up but it is something you have to listen to for what is obviously out there but it’s also looking at being more difficult to to build a team around because of the second apron. So, you have that conversation and then you just have the conversation overall is just saying like Jared’s been here since 2020 and he’s been here for a while and you drafted Evan Mobley with the idea that he was going to be your top player going forward probably on the team which he will will be. I still believe in that but also your top center, your top your top five man. Yeah. Listen, I like we we both are harping on this a lot. I I think there’s something to be said for like if they pick two guys and it would obviously be Moy like like basically you have to figure out who your core really is I think is the is the premise this this offseason and if you think it’s still the four guys I guess you’re running back with the four guys but if if if if you’re looking around these other teams like it didn’t just take patience like you can be patient but you can’t necessarily be patient with all four of these guys I think that’s the key thing you talked about it a little bit earlier the dicey financial situation how that’s all going to play out Kobe was asked about the future of Tai Jerome who is going to be an unrestricted free agent. They do have a chance to resign him. Um, but no bird rights or anything yet because they haven’t he hasn’t been here for three years and so they can’t give him like that max money. But also the Cavs do have to think about like how much money they are dueling out to other players in terms of that second apron and how much they’re going to limit themselves. So I think it was interesting and you brought this up spec es especially and I had to go back and listen to it. you made it, you felt like Kobe’s comments on Tai actually pointed to maybe not bringing him back and looking further down the bench at people who maybe fill that tie Jerome role next year. Yeah. No, the way he talked about it kept on talking about internal improvements and internal development. He said same thing with Sam Merrill, right? Like I don’t think necessarily that Tai is as developing of a player as some of the guys that he was kind of referring to. That was my take away from it. It didn’t sound like he was super committal with Tai. Said he was hopeful that that he could bring him back. But to me, that screams Craig Porter Jr. That screams Jaylen Tyson because they’re on these deals that are a little less. You know, obviously Jaylen Tyson’s on rookie scale. Craig Porter got his converted from a exhibit 10 to a two-way to now he’s got a standard contract, but these guys don’t make as much. So, it’s a little easier to be under team control and a little bit easier to have them as rotational players without it costing you too much. So, I think that’s what it spoke to me in that you look at, you know, all these guys that are have been diamond into the rough and Kobe’s done an amazing job of doing that. Look at Sam Merryill. Look at Dean Wade. Those guys turned into rotational players and I know we can have conversations about them in the postseason. Thought Sam defended his butt off, by the way. Did a really good job. Dean defend defended his butt off, but he’s just a little too trigger shy. But I feel like those are are more of the guys they’re looking to to incorporate into the rotation more next year. And if Tai’s going to get an offer sheet that’s really tough to match, then I don’t know if he can stick around. And also, how does that affect DeAndre Hunter’s role? Because DeAndre came in mid-season via trade and was clearly comfortable playing off the bench, was clearly comfortable playing with Ty Jerome. How does that change things for him? Does he change into a starter? Does he still come off the bench and still be that six-man presence? So, those are other questions you got. I was going to throw this comment up as well. This one says, “Mitchell Mobley, Mitchell, and Moy are the Tatum and Brown in the situation. Cash should at least consider the thought of getting rid of Garland and Allen, but only if it will help the team. No need to make a big trade just to shake things up. 100% agree with you guys.” And listen, I I I’ll go back to I’ll hearken back to last year, Spence. We both said that. Like, we both said I’m open to them exploring their options, but we also said you don’t just make a trade to make a trade. And I I hope that that’s clear between us. Neither of us are saying like get Jared Allen out of here just to get him out of here. Like no, if if if there’s a trade that makes sense, and I know later this week, I think we’re going to probably do another episode of the pod where we’ll talk through some different scenarios that could maybe make sense for the Cavs. But if there’s a scenario that makes sense, yeah, you pull the trigger. If not, yeah, of course, you probably just bring it back with the same group of guys and hope that development is enough. I know fans are going to want to hear that. And I do think that would set the stage for like a disappointing season because I think fans will go into it being like, why do I want to invest in this team if it’s just the same thing over and over again and we’re not going to know till until May what they really bring to the table. Um, if you’re banking on development, but I do think that is at least the the overarching thought process here from from Kobe Alman. Even though I think there was at least indications that they’re leaving the door open on some things, which is what you’d expect. I didn’t expect Kobe to come out. Some I saw somebody had a comment too of like nothing Kobe said today was surprising. I think that’s generally fair. Um I didn’t expect Kobe to come out and like start ripping on Jared Allen and be like, “Yeah, we got to get him the hell out of here.” Like he he’s in a place where he has to keep as much leverage as possible in negotiations. He’s not going to do that. I wasn’t expecting him to say that, but I wanted to get a sense of like how he was processing the season cuz Kobe is very, you know, glass half full. And I I I again in that role, I get why, but you know, like we had the head coach sit there after the game last week and say he can’t call the season a success. I wanted to know if Kobe was just going to come out and paint everything as like everything’s going to be fine and I don’t know that that’s the case. Um I think he did that a little bit especially by implying like our windows still very much open but I think that’s also just a fact. Um but I also think like he some of the things he didn’t say in comparison to last year maybe at least hinted at like okay he’s at least thinking about some things and we’ll see what this thing looks like in the coming weeks when when things really get rolling in in free agency. And you have to be careful with what you say publicly, too, because if you disparage someone, then you’re going to kill their trade value. If you disparage someone, they’re going to kill the relationship value with you inside the locker room, inside the building. So, you have to tiptoe a little bit there. However, I I do think that it was a little rosy today. I think I think he was a little optimistic and probably not the press conference fans were like hoping for, but I was going to come in here and say bring it down. But the thing is like you got to hold yourself a little bit more accountable. He was very high on what the Pacers did. He continuously credited the Pacers and how Rick Carlilele had guys picking guys up 94 feet singing the praises of of of Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nemhard and TJ McConnell wearing the guys down. Uh what the Pacers did to take them out of their offense and then also the Cavs just missed a lot of shots they normally make. It was a bad week and a half as he said it. So I I think you have to to be a little bit more internally understanding of that by the way. It’s going the other way. The men’s just all over the place. Continue. No, you’re good. I I kind of lost my track there. It’s all good. But I I think that you have to have a little bit more uh accountability with it. I know the injuries. He also said this. We didn’t bring this up. He said it’s not surprising that the st the four teams left have zero injuries rotationally on their team. And I think that that’s that’s a road you don’t want to travel right now with an emotional fan base with emotional, you know, the things running high obviously. Um there is some credence to it. Aaron Gordon came out and said it yesterday talking about the schedule of the uh playoffs and how you only have a day in between and all that stuff like which I agree with, but you don’t want to come up here whining. Don’t whine and he didn’t. He didn’t. But he was tiptoeing that line there at uh towards the end about the the who’s left in the conference. Well, and that points to I think a larger question just on like cuz I said this on our last episode, Spence, like there’s a difference between saying they need to play more minutes and that’s how they would beat the Pacers. I don’t think it’s that cuz like I said, Tyresese Hallebertton only averaged two more minutes a game than Donovan Mitchell. Like it’s not like it was excessive for him. It’s more so just about like how do you condition yourself to play that style in the playoffs? If there’s going to be other teams you run into, whether it’s Indiana or otherwise, that play that style, how are you going to condition yourself to do that? And that’s probably more of a Kenny question, like how are you going to train these guys? I thought about asking Kobe that today, but it never that was like a lower on the list question if I ever got to it. Um, but yeah, like I I I think there’s there’s some questions there in terms of like how they prepare for the playoffs next year for those types of situations. But that’s also relates to the makeup of the team at that point. Like if Jared’s not here, that might change the way you can play because Jared’s not somebody who can necessarily run up and down the floor for 48 minutes. You’re going to have to, you know, if you find somebody who can, then that changes the way that you can play, too. So that’s an interesting thing. But yeah, like the injuries, he said it like the Cavs did the best job this year of managing those things and they got to the playoffs as healthy as they’ve been and it’s just some fluke things kind of derailed it. Donovan stepping on a guy’s foot with like two weeks to go. Darius in the toe coming out of the blue in that first round. Moy falling on on Turner’s foot. Like it was just kind of you can’t those are the things you can’t script and that’s why he fought back against the durability thing too and and I do want to get to DG but finish your point. No, I was just going to say like those are things you can’t predict obviously, but um you do the best you can. I don’t actually have a problem with the way they manage minutes this year. Again, I think it was just more so about like being shell shocked by a different style of play that they weren’t ready for and how do you combat that? And that comes down to again roster building. What’s Kobe going to do to put the team in better position to be ready for something like that next year? And that’s where those questions lie. But I I’m with you on like it was very rosy, but that’s Kobe Alman. You know, could he have taken more accountability? of course, but I also like the like the commenter said, nothing he said today surprised me and I think that’s how we all kind of walked away. Yeah. And when you look at the series too, like I do agree with him in the sense that it wasn’t all just the physicality because they did out offensive rebound them. They did have a lot of situations where they were hitting first. As you said earlier, the main point is sustaining it and making sure that you can keep that level of aggression, keep that level of force up for 48 minutes because it takes 48 minutes in the playoffs. If you get uh a run coming one way, you can’t have it be a complete drought for five minutes. You can’t do that. You have to be able to answer it in some way somehow to keep yourself within the game. And opposite too, if you got a lead, don’t let up. Don’t let up. And I think that they did a good job of that this year, period. Like they went into Miami and won by like 90 points combined. Yeah, I know it’s Miami, but like they had that mindset. They had that force. Kenny even admitted at the end of the year that he didn’t think that they had that approach going into the second round, which is something you need to learn. You also have to learn the mental toughness. Kobe talking about that series, too. You got to know to box out and get a rebound. You know, you got to have to know how to inbound a basketball. You can’t get an 8second violation. These are things that really derailed the series. And it’s all talking about game two. And those are things that you have to think about in the back of your mind. But, uh, yeah, I I still agree with you though. It was it was just a little a little optimistic for me, but I think he did get some points across that were valid. Yeah. No, there was definitely a lot of validity in a number of things. I think my overarching themes I take away from this one are he sound they sound ready to bank on development is the big thing that gets him over the hump, but left the door open on potentially making some moves. And I thought the lines about like sustainability and how the window is still open. Hopefully those are messages that get through to the fans. cuz I think it’s hard for them to process a week after this this series. They’re still processing it, right? Um and I don’t know that fans are like fully buying that. Um but um I do think there is some truth in like somebody like Evan taking another step is going to help this team. I just have my questions as we laid out about if it’s just that that has to get better or if it’s that plus a combination of changes. And and that was the thing. I said this, I didn’t get a chance to ask this question unfortunately, but I I was honed in on this question for days about like what is the balance between because I figured this is what he was going to say. I figured he was going to say a lot about like, you know, we just got to keep growing and we’ll be fine. I want to know what the balance is as a person in that position of, okay, we’ve tried it enough times that now we can’t just fall back on development. like now we know this is who we are and now we have to make some changes cuz yes he can use that right now he can say that about Evan Moy right now in this moment but another year of this like is that what it’s going to take to be like okay now we just can’t we can’t can’t keep falling back to the reason being well we’re still developing what at what point is developing now an excuse versus like an actual part of the solution I guess is the way to maybe to ask the question like I just want to know when that cut off is where he finally where somebody finally realizes as an executive of the team we can’t just let that be the excuse now we have to make some changes. Is that this off season? I guess we’ll see. Is it next off season? Who knows? I thought you had a you had a question similar to what I’m asking where he basically said like you know uh if we were going to panic and make moves it would have been last year which again gives me makes me feel like they’re probably not going to change much this year. Um but again I guess that’s a wait and see things. Most definitely. And unfortunately you can’t fast forward on things. Yeah. This is literally going to take like a year to see if the vision pans out. We don’t we also don’t know what moves they potentially would make this offseason and all that good stuff. But if they do keep this iteration of the core four together and all that good stuff, then it’s a wait and see because nothing that they’re going to do in the regular season is going to matter. And it sucks because it does matter. It does matter for positioning. It matters to secure that home court and all that stuff. But even everyone in that building is admitting it now. They’re just like, “Yeah, this is not going to matter at this point. Can I get to the DG thing that I want to get to? Yeah, get to that. We’ll wrap it up here and um I will tell you we’re going to have another episode later this week because communicating. Little little tease here. Little tease here. Spence has a trade that I actually think would make a lot of sense. He’s not telling you today. He’s not spoiling it. Do not let it slip out of your mouth. Sometimes you talk a little extra. We don’t need that. We don’t need it today. We’re going to save it for a future episode of the pod this week. But tell us what you wanted to say about the DG thing. So, I one of the points that I did agree with with Kobe Alman was that Darius is still really young, too, and Darius can physically get stronger, but I never get why people look at him in this town. And it’s so similar. And it’s not talking about how great this guy is. It’s not talking about how uh they compare in any way, but no one ever looked at Steph Curry and said, “He’s too small.” No one ever looks at, you know, like Jaylen Bruss or John Moran saying, “Oh, he can’t play.” Like, like I I I don’t get this with with Darius talking about you need to have five defenders on the floor at all times. No team in the NBA has five defenders on the floor at all times unless you’re the Thunder, unless you’re the Celtics. And obviously, they’re going to be like longterm very good in that situation. But Darius, for his faults, I think stepped up like hell on defense this year. I think he was an all-star caliber player and then the toe injury started hurting and that’s not even a durability thing. That’s a freak accident. A freak accident that that guy basically was playing with a broken foot because of a bad close out or a close out that he just landed wrong on. That is not something that’s deep tissue or anything like that. And there were no deep tissue injuries this year. They they did a very good job. That’s what I think. Phil Donovan had a c the calf this year. That’s it. What what is the most frustrating part for these guys in this building is that they did everything right and Kobe me mentioned that they did everything right you could do in the regular season to maintain minutes were down leaned into the depth and they were fresh coming into the postseason they mauled Miami just mauled them and then they had a week off and then for some reason just didn’t help and then game one happened and it seemed like guys just started dropping like flies and it it’s just unfortunate it’s an unfortunate too we have to acknowledge that there is luck that goes in to advancing into the playoffs. There is absolutely a luck factor to this as well. But at the same time, because they always tell you two things can be true at once, you have to look. You have to look inside and look at that. And I am a firm believer in Darius Garland. I think that guy is going to break out one of these times and and and it’s just going to he’s going to shove it in everyone’s face. I really do. I think like if if you’re thinking about how this team advances forward and you’re thinking about like the style of basketball they need to play, I think Darius fits it more so than Jared if I’m being 100% honest. Like he can he can play even as a weaker defender in some respects. He can still play like five out because his off his offense the offense he gives you theoretically is going to be there, right? Like he can knock down threes. He’s a good jump shooter. He can facilitate. So he can still play that style. It’s Jared that I have the more more questions about. Um, and I and I’ll say this, like it’s the nature of the beast. Darius is going to get criticized because he wasn’t out there and he wasn’t playing through the injury and then he played through the injury and wasn’t good and then now people are going to lose situation. You can’t win in that situation. Tell me what he should do. Tell me what he should do. But I do think I do like he’s going to have to just live with that and it’s going to be what it is. But I do think his two the situations the last two years for him. It’s just unfortunate. It’s just bad timing really. like the jaw thing and that derro this whole season that he wasn’t great in the playoffs and then this this year it’s the toe happening in the first round like randomly out of the blue like I I I believe that he would be okay and he could provide you like something if he was healthy and it just stinks that the last two years that really has you need ball handlers and that’s what Kobe was talking about too if we didn’t have Darius yeah we’d be looking at getting a different a different ball handler but we have Darius Garland to alleiate that pressure we have Evan Mobley to alleviate that pressure those guys have to devel up and a big reason why Donovan Mitchell signed the extension that he did. Yeah, that was Darius Garland and Evan Mobley being the future of this this Dan Harris says we played 91 games total the first 86 games we were the best. The five last games should put the entire season down the drain. Put 20 pounds of muscle on Garland and make him the for make him force the ball into Moy. Um, we talked about this a little bit, I think, on our last episode, like the idea that someone’s going to have to probably concede some some shots to to Evan. Um, him not getting enough in the postseason, I think, is a big deal. And if they’re talking about him being the reason they’re going to take that next step, he does need to touch the ball more. Um, and then listen, I I He’s got to demand it, too. I will say though, the first point of that comment of like this, it’s all down the drain because of this. Yes. Unfortunately. Yes. I’m sorry. Like, I’m sorry. Like Donovan said it best last week. We could win 82 games this year and no one’s going to care. Like that that that sums it up. Like it’s it’s the unfortunate part of it. Like I’m not saying there weren’t small successes in this season, but this season was largely a failure because they raised the expectation to this level that they didn’t even come close to matching. Like they didn’t even get to a game seven in the second round. Like it was another pathetic outing in the second round. It’s like what is going on here? Like you were supposed to be better than this. So yes, like unfortunately it does erase a lot of that goodwill. That doesn’t mean we won’t remember it. That doesn’t mean it’s not a story. blame the 43 seconds of game two. That’s literally what it came down. The record books will show that this was a historically great season, but I also just think like that’s just the nature of sports. So, we’ll end with this one. Moy needs to get more center full time. Allen is hindering his development. Try they or sorry, they need an athletic power forward next to Moy. Um, sorry, I’m having a hard time reading because we’re like farther away than usual. So, I’m at a computer and it’s like, okay. Um, but no, I I think that again sort of sums up a lot of what we talked about already on this episode. just the idea that, you know, he’s he’s got to be more of a focal point and that um he should probably be playing the five more and they do need to probably find if they’re going to trade Jared Allen, somebody who can play next to him who’s a little bit more versatile than what I think Jared Allen brings to the table. Yeah. No, I think you can also look at playing DeAndre at the four. You can look at playing DeAndre at the three if you really want to get get funky with him. I think I like DeAndre better at three personally. Sure. Cuz that’s he’s kind of that perimeter defender guy. These are conversations they’re going to have. Yeah. And these are things that we will talk about throughout the offseason, of course, including coming up later this week, we’re going to drop another episode. Spence has a pretty good trade idea that I think you guys might be interested in. But of course, the part part of the fun of this is that we float these trade ideas and then people just get to rip us for thinking it’s the stupidest idea ever. So, and I usually do the ripping, by the way. Whatever’s floating out there on Twitter right now, you can go ahead and shut off. So, go ahead and fire up your trade machine trades and send them to us and we’ll rip you too on the podcast. But no guys, we really are thankful again all season for your support. This isn’t the end of our coverage of course, but it is the end of probably press conference coverage that we’ll have for a little while here. Last time we’ll be here for a little while. Last time we’ll be here for a little while throughout the summer. We’ll be playing a lot more golf and doing some fun things in that way. So, but we will see you back here at some point. Keep on following along please with the channel Cavaliers on SI. Uh subscribe if you haven’t done so already. Follow this podcast courtside with the Cavs on SI because we’re going to continue dropping content in the weeks and months ahead. Continue covering this team from different angles, different perspectives. Get some good topics and some fun stuff out there to keep you engaged on all things Cleveland Cavaliers. And of course, there’s also the website si.comba/cavaliers. I put a piece up earlier about just Kobe’s comments on the window still being open and why Evan Moy is the key uh proponent of that. So, make sure to check that out if you haven’t done so already. and Spence, as always, keep on following along with all things Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cleveland Cavaliers on SI.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season over earlier than anyone expected, team president of basketball operations Koby Altman held his end-of-season press conference to address the state of the squad ahead of a pivotal offseason.

Altman believes the Cavaliers will be back and can overcome the hump to become a title contender. He seemed to imply that doing so will come internally with the continued development of key players like Evan Mobley. The Cavs’ top executive also chimed in on the future of Jarrett Allen and Ty Jerome and provided some insight into navigating a dicey financial situation.

Spencer German and Spencer Davies react to everything Altman had to say in his presser and ponder what’s next for the wine and gold in the latest episode of Courtside with Cavs on SI.

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