After the Cleveland Cavaliers season ended against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, vultures began to circle overhead. Based on reporting across the Rubicon, there was a growing expectation that the Cavs would be a dramatically different team from the sideline to the court next season. The expectation ballooned to a point where J.B. Bickerstaff would be out, and both Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen would be traded, changing a fundamental portion of what the Cavs had built.
While part of that is true, considering that Cleveland parted ways with Bickerstaff and is looking for their next head coach, it doesn't seem that changes will come to the roster after all. In his annual end-of-season state-of-the-team Q&A with the media, Cavs President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman seemingly squashed the notion that he would blow up this roster.
Cavs' Koby Altman sets the record straight
“I don’t see big major sweeping changes. I just don’t,” said Altman. “Like I said, more data speaks to [how] this works than it doesn’t. You can’t win 99 games over the regular season, make it to a conference semis, and be like, this doesn’t work. Again, this is just year two of this iteration of this core being together, and I have a lot of excitement for the future of this group and belief in this group.
“The other piece that the outside doesn’t see is that you meet with every player, and they have a really strong belief in the core of the group and their fellow teammates. They think they can win here. There’s a lot of camaraderie and belief, and they like each other, so it’s hard for me to glean anything other than how we pour more into the group we have. Sure, there are some moves you can make around the peripheral, but what are the levers we can pull? What can we tighten up? Where’s our upside? Where’s the low-hanging fruit in-house to elevate this thing?
“… There’s much more in-house than I need to find out outside this building. There’s a lot of belief in our players and each other in this organization, and so I don’t see the need to make sweeping changes.”
What Altman said leads to two different paths forward for Cleveland. In a more cynical light, Altman is hedging his bets, making it seem like the Cavs aren't looking to trade either Garland or Allen so that they can get the best possible return. In the same vein, it also keeps the organization in good standing with fans by making it seem like the player motivated any move instead of the team.
However, from a more positive point of view, Altman firmly believes in what he has built through trades and the NBA Draft, and perhaps a new head coach is all Cleveland needs to level up as a team. Altman and his staff will reconvene after the long weekend out of respect for Bickerstaff's legacy and the emotional blow parting ways with the head coach delivered to the organization. Altman went into detail about the move, calling it a “tremendously difficult decision” while also expressing gratitude toward Bickerstaff for his role in helping the Cavs return to relevance.
Depending on who Cleveland decides should take the reins as their next head coach, it could either vilify Altman if he doesn't tear down part of what they built or be one of his final acts running the Cavs. Granted, things can change every day, but for now, it appears that Cleveland is going to run it back with the same roster with a couple of new additions in free agency and through the NBA Draft, hoping that a new head coach is the solution to help the Cavs become a title contender.
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