Koby Altman End-of-Season Media Availability

Koby Altman End-of-Season Media Availability

give it a level give it a level hello hello you good good what up guys how we doing good hello how you doing good all right is uh my wife my wife’s working okay good all right you let me know BJ okay uh thank you everyone for coming uh appreciate you’re being here in all the coverage uh this year um obviously we made uh an announcement yesterday regarding uh JB’s future here with us um we would like to thank JB uh for all his contributions U to this franchise to this organization um I think it’s undeniable uh the amount of success he’s had with us um pushing us from a rebuild to where we are now um what makes this even more difficult is he was an incredible partner and uh personally a friend of mine and um we love we love him as a human being and so that makes it even more difficult I want to send a special thank you to Nikki fcker staff his wife um and and and their kids and their family they’ve dove into this community like none other um they’re fabric of the community uh they gave tremendous contributions um to Cleveland and so uh we just want to thank them for their time here wish them obviously nothing but the best um and uh you know we’ll move forward but uh there’ll always be a big part of our story and so just wanted to thank JB to start um and uh we can open it up for questions now Kobe you mentioned last year to end the speculation at this time of of JB getting fired on the heels of the Mi Series so what changed over the last year that made you feel like you hav make this so I I’ll say you know again tremendously difficult uh decision um not going to go into sort of any shortcomings or negatives about JB it’s not something that he did specifically um I think for us it’s with this group um finding someone with a new approach um someone with a different voice a fresh set of eyes to help us move forward and we’ve accomplished a lot in the last few years getting to a conference semi-finals and we don’t want to be complacent we don’t want to be content with that and so what are the levers that we can push and pull to get to that next level cuz we feel we’re not far off we feel we have a tremendous amount of talent in house we have players that believe in each other believe in this organization and think they’re pretty close and so it’s it’s not One Singular thing that that JB did wrong it’s how do we continue to move this thing forward uh because we don’t think we’re far off at this point have you gotten insurances from Donan MIT to sign long term with you guys how long you make make that question um one we can’t talk to Donovan now about the contract um until July I’ll say that my exit interview with him was was was really good in that he was talking about the future and how excited he was about the team the organization um you know this is a player that has had two of the best years of his career here um has had a lot of success here um understands the infrastructure I think um has a lot of trust on what we’re doing and understands that our goal is to win a championship and again um when we’re talking to him about the future here getting his feedback it’s all about how do we make this thing better how do we achieve this together how do we win in the future and so those I take those as very positive things um from his own words he says he’s happy here um he likes it here and so he’s always been very genuine he’s always been very intentional he’s been a great teammate and we have to take all that and face value and say okay um we feel good about where we are with Donovan obviously things could change um in terms of his contract future it’s nothing we can talk about until until July how much influence does he have how many questions I’m sorry go ahead um how much influence does he so last summer um he had a lot of influence in in terms of how how much he helped us recruit uh free agents to be here um listen he’s he’s you’ve talked to him he’s a highly intellectual um basketball Junkie right and so I would love to have some of input in terms of you know what we want to do into the future um and yeah absolutely would love his feedback and how we you know how we continue to build this thing um I think he’s been very influential in helping us land some free agents um that conversation will come for sure H do you think that uh Don and Darius work together as well as you thought they would or is do you see an issue there I don’t I think that’s that’s overblown I’ll say this I think there’s way more data that speaks to it works than doesn’t you know in the last two years uh combined because they’ve been together for two years there’s a lot of data that we can look at right and so over the last two years including the playoffs they’re are net positive plus five together on the floor um everyone wants to throw out the first year together when Darius actually had one of the best years of his career he was an All-Star but he actually had more efficiency and that was with Donovan um they have a great relationship on and off the court um I think the other thing that we have to to realize is that you know this is just year two of this iteration of this team and you know taking it zooming out a little bit when you look at some of the most successful teams over the past decade that had real success uccess in the playoffs they’ve had a long run at this thing you know going back to Golden State that’s been together for 12 years that core you know we look at Milwaukee that’s been together almost 11 years when you look at Giannis and Chris Middleton and they run together right that’s 11 years uh Boston I want to say seven years together right and they’re still knocking at the door right for that Championship but that’s been a core that’s been together for seven years had a lot of success together obviously Denver when you look at joic and Jamal Murray for 8 years we’re just in year two of this this iteration and we got to a conference semis we’re not we’re not content with that um but there’s a lot of Runway left and there’s a lot of learning left to be with this Corp um and listen I think this pairing has a has a chance to be really successful together and the data speaks to that over the last two years so you anticipate not breaking that that per I don’t see why we should you know I don’t I don’t see why we should I think um and the same thing goes to the you know they say the fit of the Evan Mo Jared Allen that that fit actually has a higher net rating than than our guards um I think the other thing too like again you know looking at at it there’s a depth of talent here that that’s really really good and when you look at the the landscape of the league and how long like 82 games we can’t discount injuries right and it’s part of our game um it’s a horrible part of the playoffs this year um but I feel like listen when when Darius and Evan went down it was really nice to have Donovan and Jared keep us at a really competitive level right same thing when Jared goes down in this playoffs uh with a broken rib it’s really nice to flex Evan into that five spot right we we we don’t compete without Evan being in that five spot and so I know people want to talk about the the fit I push back on that in terms of just the the net ratings but it also want to talk about the depth of talent here that’s really good that keeps us alive when we have to go through some some injury spells Kobe what were your expectations for this season and then how this match with what you expected I wanted to um I wanted to be highly competitive in the playoffs you know we had a taste of playoff last year um fell short um with a with a young roster and and inexperience um this year I wanted to be highly competitive in the playoffs I think we were um obviously we weren’t whole I’m not going to make excuses I think a lot of teams are going through what we went through so we can’t just say this is a Cavaliers thing in terms of the injuries um look it’s hard to say this season was a success when you look at you know our first conference semi-finals since 2018 and so so um you know we were disappointed with how it ended uh but certainly um through a lot of adversity this year um got to a point where we can look back and say okay I think we’re going in the right direction um we’re having success in the playoffs and we’re setting ourselves up in the future for some real for for a real run and that’s the key you know that’s the key is really diving deep into um what are the levers we can pull where we can clean up some things how do we maximize some talent in house to give ourselves a chance to make a run like some of the teams I talked about right that are seven eight nine years into this thing and really knocking at the door of championships if not w a championship we’re just year two of this thing do you um how high do you rate that you need to get an experienced head coach I mean for example like when be line you had to make that change John quit or whatever you had JB there and had you know two trial runs at being a head coach and and there was immed difference with that so I just wondered how do you is with this thing like you said there’s high expectations for your team so in terms of that profile have Terry it’s a it’s an excellent question I I’d be lying to you if I said I’ve already dove into a list of of of people um and criteria um we’re going to take the weekend decompress um come back Tuesday and really sit down with the staff and go over those questions um it it’s a massive undertaking first of all when you had a person a man um as good as JB uh to get to the conclusion of okay we need to go in a different direction so that that has taken up all my mind capacity along with combine and La draft workouts um we’re going to take the weekend and come back and really map out what that is I think the difference between and we haven’t had a search for 5 years um we’ve had real continuity here front office bench um and so we haven’t had a search in 5 years that search 5 years ago is completely different than this one this is a very highly specific job requirement in terms of the questions we’re going to ask um very very specific to the talent level very specific to how we can get even achieve even more than we have um and obviously some characteristics that we talk about from a cultural standpoint but there would be very highly specific questions that I think I’ll have um but I can answer you more next week in terms of criteria experience and and and starting to compile a list Kobe this time last year you were very adamant no real need to look at Major roster alterations and you were true to your work so as you stand here right now do you understanding what you said about the external perception about Fit versus your internal evaluation of fit um do you have that same thought process right now that you don’t need to make any major decisions or or I should say alterations and is that something you would be open to this offseason if opportunity presented itself yeah I don’t I don’t see a a big a major sweeping changes I just don’t um like I said more data speaks to this works than it doesn’t um You Can’t Win 99 games over the regular season make it to a conference semis and be like this doesn’t work um again this just being year two of this iteration of this core being together um I have a lot of of um excitement for the future for this group um and belief in this group the other piece that um you know the outside doesn’t see is you meet with every player and they have a really strong belief in the the core of the group uh their fellow teammates they think they can win here um there’s a lot of camaraderie and belief and and they like each other and so so it’s hard for me to to glean anything other than how do we pour more into the group that we have sure there’s there’s some moves you can make um you know around the peripheral but you know what are the levers we can pull what can we tighten up um where’s our upside where’s the low hanging fruit inhouse um to elevate this thing and like I said way more data speaks to how how much more success we’ve had with this group then it does I think the outside perception of of of of fit um we’ve won too many games we’ve had playoff success um and and we’re still young you know I mean we haven’t even talked about Evan Mo and his Ascension like he’s continued to get better he’s only known postseason basketball since he’s been drafted and to see his you know see him Elevate game five of Boston on the road and be the best player on the floor that night um leads me to believe we have so much more to grow with him and so there’s a lot more in house than than I need to find out outside of this building there’s a lot of belief in our players and each other uh in this organization and so I I don’t see the need to make sweeping changes there’s a lot of conversation about floor spacing this year and that run that 18 and2 run like that really showed so how do you create how do you create that floor spacing with the two bigs because you’re right about Evan but he did that when Jarrett wasn’t available you know Darius seems to play better when Donovan is not on the floor so I guess you know where’s the balance there and how do you you know create that while maintaining the continuity of the this core form sure I think one you know the net ratings both of them on the floor together is positive right from Jared and Evan and from Darius and D both positive to the to the almost to the two in a plus five right when they’re both on the floor together um I think it speaks to the dep dep of what we can do from an offensive standpoint um why can’t we do both you know what I mean um could it get a little clunky with two bigs on the floor uh but guess what on the other side we’re really good defensively that’s been true since we’ve had these two together been incredible defensive uh group and and th that helps us win games in the fourth quarter as well and so do we look do we need to look at diversifying the offense sure um that’s something we need to do um Evan continues to space the floor and we want him to shoot more threes he was in the 30s this year and that’s something that we’re going to continue to elevate in his game um and again continue to get better you know what I mean it’s this is not the end of the story for this group it’d be one thing if we just maximized everything put everything into this group and kept falling short again this is just year two Evan’s just 22 years old Jared’s the oldest 26y old I’ve ever been around um and so I just think we have a Runway here to figure it out and give him a chance at it how do you you mentioned the the young guys like EV Mo development how much does that specific part of this the development of him and and Darius Garland way into offseason decisions with head coaching and even some of the Rost decisions you guys will make so the Evan piece is a really fascinating study because the the balance of of developing a top three pick and the talent that He has with us trying to win big is really difficult that’s difficult for a head coach that’s difficult for an organization um because if if we weren’t trying to win big I’m sure we could have rolled the ball out and had Evan scoring 20 points a game but that means Evan M’s probably not in the conference semi-finals either competing at the highest level and so when you look at a top three pick like Evan um it’s very rare that they play postseason basketball since the day they were drafted you know he he played in two playing tournament games his first year played in the first round last year into the semis this year conference semis this year um we feel that’s a huge part of his development just playing winning full meaningful games is part of it um did we get away from unlocking his potential fully a little bit this year and I think that needs to be a Vocal Point into this summer of how we can unlock him only because it’s going to make our team even better and give us a chance to to elevate um to a higher level it’s going to unlock not just but this organization so that’s certainly a Vocal Point um in terms of Darius Darius knows he needs to have a a major off season him seeing seeing the physicality of that series of both series really um is something that I think he’s he’s going to grow from um he had a tough year in terms of the injury piece um losing all that weight from the draw injury never regaining that um trying to reing gratiate himself to a team that was rolling as well um was hard for him and I think he knows this needs to be a big off season for him uh but I love the experience we’re giv our young guys I I just can’t I don’t know how you it’s invaluable when you’re playing in highle playoff series playing against the number one team uh in the NBA from a record standpoint in the Boston Celtics um going up against that experience um Evan by far is the youngest guy on the floor um next was Darius and so that’s that’s a core we’re really excited about into the future and giving them that experience in the playoffs was huge this year you mentioned the Boston the Denver Milwaukee gold States seems like increasingly those teams are the outliers like a lot of the league changes around every summer so how do you bounce your long Runway idea with maintaining urgency because you know you guys you never know how long the one is going to be yeah I think when you speak to the urgency I mean went into the decision to to dismiss JB you know um it’s it’s part of it it’s not being complacent it’s not saying you know what we know we’re going to get back here next year so let’s just roll it out again you know we know that we have a 22 Avenue is going to continue to get better so we got time at this thing um that’s not the task at hand the task is looking at every part of our organization and having that urgency right not being complacent right going into this offseason um look it it it’s no it’s a major decision to let go of your head coach it is after a half decade with him it’s a major massive undertaking to do a coaching search um and and we’re going to embark on that and find the Right leader to help push us forward and and yes I think there’s a long runway in terms of the talent the guys that are under contract um that’s exciting but from a man in my in my uh office on the way out every player said we can do we we’re right there you know we we want to win this thing right we we think we’re very close which is exciting for me and now I have to find different levers to figure out how we can re realize that that potential to that point about time to evaluate everything how do you feel you guys have done pulling the levers and how you feel about your your place in the organization right now whose place yours oh my I I I mean listen I think that’s for you guys to decide you know what we’ve done I think um you know in a in a relatively short amount of time uh We’ve rebuilt this thing to where it is now um not so long ago we were at 22 wins you know and if we stayed like that I wouldn’t be here right so I think we’ve had um a mendous amount of success but I would leave that to you guys to decide the job we do did you expect more from and especially playoff yeah I think George would tell you and he told me in his office he knows he can be better um in the playoffs he knows he could have been better in the playoffs just in terms of shot making um but he gave us over the regular season was 82 games he’s one of the one of the one of the only guys that played all 82 games uh he brought a tough and competitiveness um he was serious but also so light-hearted that he kept it you know we went through a lot of adversity this year um the projected starting five only played 28 games together uh when they did we were 18 and 10 so it was pretty good um I think he will tell you that um from a shot making standpoint um he could have been a lot better in the playoffs uh he did bring a lot to US during the regular season um which is part of it um and I I think he he knows from his standpoint what this offseason means but he still has a lot of belief in this in this program um max had the best year of his career statistically um you ask him he thinks he can do better he thinks he can shoot better there’s things he wants to do better from a um playing standpoint um we didn’t know I mean I didn’t know about the you know the playmaking you know we we you know we thought we were getting a basketball player we didn’t know that he was going to um have the best year of his career from a statistic standpoint pass passing rebounding um defense brought a lot of intensity a lot of seriousness um and he was the first one to say we’re not content with just making the second round this is a guy before us that went to two finals and a Conference Finals in between so he has a lot of um internal data of what that looks like and how you get back there and so we love his leadership we love his feedback um we’re very very happy with him um and his play and his lead leadership and uh his fearlessness I mean there’s the toughness the grit I mean we put him against some of the best wings in the uh in the world and he competed and gave us a chance on that end um he’s a much better basketball player than I I thought when we when we acquired him sucess how much yeah um I don’t so again absolutely like have to find the Right leader um there’s pressure in everything we do so I get the importance of this um you know there was nothing that da did categorically wrong you know what I mean that to say that now we have to get this right you know I think there was a lot of things we did incredibly well over the last four and a half years that he was at the helm I think you know going back to the original statement is you know what’s a fresh set of eyes look like uh what’s a new approach look like with this particular group and um how can this uh new candidate really or new head coach really push us to the next level like you said you haven’t search for years so what are the mechanics of the search that you can share about obviously you’re running it but who else is is involved to what Dan uh Dan will for sure play a role um you know at the end when I sort of present him with our our finalist um Dan gives incredible Insight um I love when he’s involved uh cuz it it’s just helpful it gives you support U but also he’s he thinks outside the box he pushes you um and so I’d say at the end he he certainly would have a big influence on what we do um you know obviously our front office will run the search um there’s a lot of hours days weeks that go pour that pour into this decision uh there’s there’s hours spent with the candidates um there’s phone calls there’s there’s there’s back ground um and so from a uh just just a mechanic standpoint we’re going to take the weekend off right now just to decompress a little bit um I know people already have lists that we have it’s not true like we’re going to come back on Tuesday uh we’re going to go over sort of characteristics what are the specific questions that we have and then start to compile a list and then go from there K why did U just curious why did it take you you know a week and a half or whatever it was to to do this thing with J so Terry good question um one it’s not there’s there wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction you know it wasn’t like ah this is not going to this is not going to work there’s been too much success for us to have that conclusion after one day um it was going to take several days to really uh dive deep into the evaluation of JB who who deserve that um it certainly took um there was there was time spent with him as well during this process that he deserved and and I thought was really healthy in terms of our dialogue um and then also not to make excuses but you know when you when you play a little deeper into the playoffs it puts you right up against the draft and so we were dealing with draft combine while playing Boston so going back and forth um know last week we’re out in La um for for agent workouts and and so not that that slowed it down but certainly added to what we had to do in there’s a obviously we have the 20th pick in the draft uh draft is immensely important to what we do and so those two things together sort of put us to where we are now but I wouldn’t have said it would have been appreciably earlier anyway these are just the things that we’ve we’ve had to deal with over the last week anything he could have said or promis to kind of get one more crack at it it’s a good question Terry I I think about that I think for us um again with this keep going back with this particular group I think a new approach was needed far as the input that you received during the exit interviews did that provide anything far as making the decision for the culture change for what you heard from the players directly so we we always take input from the players um I think it’s it’s definitely a valuable exercise um at the end of the day you know the decision has to be come from me um and no particular player or players I have to do what’s right and find the right match for this set of of player this group that we hope will have a long Runway and a lot of playoff success um and and identifying who that is and so we got a lot of positive feedback from players uh you get negative impact from players but my job is to listen uh decipher through all of that and and come to a conclusion um there’s there’s feedback that helps us as a front office has nothing to do with coaches there’s feedback from an organizational standpoint of how we can get better those are the questions I’m asking too um how do we make this the best place for you to be successful um that’s a driving force behind what we do and so there’s a lot of things we talk about not just the the coaching staff of how we can improve and and and we take that that feedback um seriously but at the end of the day you know from a coaching standpoint like that’s that’s my decision and as far as all the injuries that the teams had you said that the starting five only played 28 games together is it something that you maybe was it just coincidence or is it something that you think maybe far as training wise that something needs to be changed or updated it’s there’s a few things that that the hardest things that we have to do um figuring out this injury thing um is not just particular to the Cavs um we had a hard year this year from injury standpoint last year we were actually pretty good from A Game’s Miss standpoint um you know just again zooming out looking at the league as a whole I’ve never seen a playoffs like this where we’ve seen this many stars out right that was not specific to just the Cavs and so I think just looking at like the landscape of the long season and what it entails now is I think it’s a really good question like how do we solve this player injury piece and I think you know we have more meaningful games now during the regular season than we’ve ever had and so we we’ve added the the season tournament right now the NBA cup that has I think five games of of group play that intensity gets risen right that that those are playoff level intensity games that are in the beginning of the season um the playing tournament at the end of the season which we thought was going to elevate sort of the teams at the bottom to try to make it at the end and make a run at it the unintended consequences the top six teams don’t want to lose and drop out of it and so for the last few weeks of the season you see a huge ramp up in load and in playing in meaningful games and then the league adding the player participation program you know 65 games or less um puts another burden on on this on this usage and so now you’re going into the playoffs and over the course of 82 games how much have we expended on these players bodies something we need to figure out you know something we need to study um we need to figure out how to manage manage five in seven game five day you know five games in seven days three games in four days big you know it’s a lot of games in one month um these are Big questions for us and it’s something that we’re trying to figure out to be better at but you can clearly see this is not just a Cavs issue um we need to figure out how to Navigate 82 games and then playoffs and then us specifically post Allstar into playoffs how are we playing our best basketball and how are we healthy cuz if you look at it and they’re great teams still playing but they’re the most healthy teams that are still playing and and that’s something that that we’re studying how much of that was over the course of an 82 Game season kind of managing a rotation going a little deeper during the regular season and do you think that it all had any effect you know second half drop offs the last couple years do you think that also plays into it I think the one SP the one silver lining of the injuries was we actually figured out we had some dep um you know you saw the emergence of a saman Marill which is incredible um hugely important for us moving forward um you saw uh undrafted undrafted rookie Craig Porter Jr figuring out that he has a real chance at this thing and to be successful and be a rotational player um you know obviously you don’t want to have injuries but these are some of the silver lines that be figured out that we have real depth of this roster and then to your point how are we using that depth over the 82 G games and really diving into you know how are we breaking up the game the the season into segments knowing we want to be playing our best after Allstar and being healthy into the playoffs um those are those are crucial questions uh I think we have the roster to to navigate that a little bit better S what I was going to ask earlier did Donovan’s contract status or Donovan’s views at all impact the decision no your for to that’s a good question um you know I think we’d love to have a coach in place for the draft I think that might be even too that’ be probably too aggressive a timeline um it’s when we come up with the right decision for um who’s the right match for this group and if it has to drag on a little longer it does um it’s it’s these are this is such an important decision for us like I said we haven’t had a search in a half decade so um we need to get back to as a group and really um talk about criteria the specific questions who we want from a cultural standpoint create a list and then really dive deep into those candidates um get to a finalist and uh but I I won’t say it’s something that we need to rush I mean you’re not the only team that’s looking for a coach obviously other teams start that process before you is there any concern that they’re ahead of the game when it comes to that and you could miss out on somebody that you want potentially U but that doesn’t mean we need to speed up our process doj it’s it was massive um it was massive um he most important player we had all year in terms of games played and and his value um he played 81 straight games um and you know having a pierced rib you know I I’ve never had a broken but I’ve had several people reach out to me um about how much it hurts you can’t drive to work you can’t sleep you can’t tie your sneakers um to give you some insight to what Jared did I mean Jared tried to give it a go I mean to the last day and a half he was trying to go up and down on this floor and do some real basketball moves um it’s hard to play basketball if you can’t raise your arms over your head um you know I know there was there was speculation of more stuff he could have done um it’s impossible uh to to to play through what he was playing through through it was a pierced rib it was a pierced rib Kobe the um what you know last year going into the offseason was clear the bench needed to be addressed you did you mentioned the injuries opened your eyes to the depth that you have what do you think you’re missing to get to that next level because you’re you know you’re on the door you mean from a roster standpoint um again I have great belief in the talent here you you know what I mean if I didn’t I would say we’re going to look at all these different things and maybe breaking up the core and trying to bring um other guys in here um I think around the margins how do we get better um how do we maximize the talent we have in house um and and and really try to pull levers that we have here um you know from from from every angle that we can look at uh to maximize what we have in house and so um we’ll look you know we’ve been super aggressive in the past um we’ve made you know this front office we’ve made some sweeping changes we’ve made some sweeping moves before you know um to the Jared Allen question like Jared has a lot of equity here I mean we we’ve traded for Jared and the whole trajectory of the rebuild changes right um you go out and trade for Larry marketing uh who helps us achieve great level of success that F future year and then you go out and get a Donovan Mitchell which is um a Monumental trade for a franchise so we’ve made some major changes we made some real injections of talent into this roster and so now’s the time to figure out okay how do we win with this big because we have had a lot of success with this group you don’t win 99 games uh and be back-to-back homecourt Advantage playoff teams without that and now it’s trying to figure out you know how to how to go further if it was a pier wasn’t listed asion and did you feel like you had to do any repairing of the relationship with Jared because of pained him in the C life not good question I mean it’s all semantics in terms of what you want to list it for um no no no strain on the relationship though real quick you said that and this [Laughter] was you said that Donovan and dere plus five that and you said that Moy and Ellen were better so you know what that number was I’m going say it was plus 5.7 I can get you that number I think it was higher it was like plus 5.7 or something together net rating together on the floor WRA it up everybody thank you thanks guys thank you

Cleveland Cavaliers President of Basketball Operations speaks with the media at Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence, Ohio on May 24, 2023.