Koby Altman gave up a few players who would’ve made the Cavs much better.
It’s not that Koby Altman blew up the Cavs roster from the 2018 NBA Finals, or that he couldn’t retain LeBron James. It’s not that Altman gave Kevin Love $100 million or traded away Kevin Porter Jr. No, Altman’s sins as a general manager are deep and complicated.
Altman gave up several key pieces that would’ve helped the team, and gave them up for next to nothing. That is part of the problem with Altman’s tenure. The lack of return on investment that Cleveland is dealing with. There are more players that didn’t make the list, like Kyle Korver and JaVale McGee but most of this list is focused on guys who could’ve helped the Cavs in the subsequent years and got nothing back for them.
Honorable Mention: Derrick Rose
The Cavs traded away Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert, Jae Crowder, and a 2020 MIA second-round pick swap for George Hill and Rodney Hood. While neither Hill nor Hood were bad acquisitions by any means, looking at how well the New York Knicks did with Rose on their roster, it’s hard to argue that he wouldn’t have had a major impact on the Cavs.
Rose averaged 19 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the Knicks playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks, and had averaged 18 points with the Timberwolves and Pistons in back-to-back seasons. He easily could’ve been a huge contributor on a Post-LeBron James Cavs team.
Rodney Hood
At just 26 when the Cavs traded away from Rodney Hood, the versatile small forward would’ve helped the Cavs and may have helped them out of the lottery, making Isaac Okoro expandable in theory (even the Cavs likely wouldn’t have been in the lottery anyway in 2020). While Hood tore his ACL in 2020 and didn’t rebound well in 2021, the odds that he gets his legs back in 2021-2022 is high.
While Hood may have gotten hurt in Cleveland, what the Cavs gave up for him is insulting. The Trailblazers gave up nothing to get him, just Nik Stauskas, Wade Baldwin IV, and two future second-round picks.
Seeing as how useless the NBA second-round is, the Cavs would’ve been just as fine with keeping Rodney Hood on their roster and trying to sign him long-term. The Cavs threw money at Larry Nance, Cedi Osman, and Kevin Love, so why not Hood?
Hood filled in a nice need of a versatile wing, who can play defense and stretch the court. Something they’re lacking on the current roster. While Osman is a nice, versatile wing, he’s not gotten the time or the consistency to really consider him a reliable starter. Maybe he can be with a better system but right now he’s kind of lost as an off-ball point-forward type.
Hood doesn’t need the ball in his hands as Osman does and would’ve been a far more effective player in J.B. Bickerstaff’s system, barring the torn-up knee he got in 2020.
Jordan Clarkson
The 2020 NBA Sixth-Man, Jordan Clarkson, came over with Larry Nance in a trade with the Lakers. The Cavs gave up Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and the Cavs’ 2018 first-round pick. This came just months after Thomas came over from Boston in the Kyrie Irving trade that also saw Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, the pick that became Collin Sexton and a second-round draft pick come to Cleveland.
The 2018 first-round pick the Cavs gave up for Clarkson would become Moritz Wagner.
The move brought over Clarkson, who was already well known for his scoring prowess while in Los Angeles. A rare standout as a second-round pick, Clarkson became one of the Lakers prime guys to build around, alongside Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. When the Cavs landed both Nance and Clarkson, it was seen as a big coup for the Cavs in 2018 and beyond.
That was until the Cavs turned around and traded Clarkson away for next to nothing. Maybe if Clarkson wasn’t shipped off for second-round picks, and a busted point guard with no shooting ability (Dante Exum) then fans would think more highly of this trade. The fact remains, however, that Exum didn’t pan out and the Cavs got nothing out of those second-round picks.
Clarkson could’ve been a starter or a sixth-man for the Cavs at this point. This would’ve given them a more consistent scorer off the bench. Sure, he and Collin Sexton essentially play the same game and probably couldn’t play together very often if they were to be as effective as possible but that doesn’t mean that Clarkson couldn’t have helped.
Jae Crowder
Jae Crowder came over in a trade with the Boston Celtics that saw Cleveland give up Kyrie Irving for Isaiah Thomas, Ante Zizic, the pick that became Collin Sexton, a second-round draft pick, and of course Crowder.
The do-it-all forward has found himself a desirable piece of many teams over the last few years and even helped the Miami Heat get to the NBA Finals in 2020. His offensive stats aren’t all that impressive, but his ability to play defense and use his size to force guys out off the block is invaluable.
He’ll average around 10 points for you, grab you five boards, and play lights out defense against the team’s best players. Considering he’s not a huge guy, you’d think he’d be limited where he can play, but Crowder is a strong guy and can force bigger players off the block down under the rim, or smother a wing player with his massive wingspan. He’s not a guy you build a team around, but if you’re building a team, he’s the first-non scorer you think of.
Crowder being on the team would’ve made Kevin Love expendable, and maybe the Cavs would have opted to let Love walk, or at the very least not given him $100 million. It’s also possible that they kept Love and had Crowder play next to him. While centers in the modern NBA need to be defensive-minded, it’s not crazy to think the Cavs would run Crowder at power forward and Love at center if it meant getting Crowder on the court.
What makes Crowder so intriguing as a guy the Cavs should’ve retained is the fact that he brings a different energy. If the NBA had fullbacks, Crowder would be just that. He’s aggressive, strong, and unrelenting. The kind of guy that makes your team harder to beat.