5 Cavaliers on Thin Ice After J.B. Bickerstaff Firing
By Cem Yolbulan
5. GM Koby Altman
If a front office hires a new head coach and fires them before their contract expires, it's only a matter of time until the attention turns to the general manager. After all, it is the front office who hired Bickerstaff, made the trades to bring in Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, and gave the contracts to Caris LeVert and Georges Niang. This is the team general manager Koby Altman chose to construct.
Altman hasn't done a poor job since taking over in 2017. He has done a decent job turning the team into a playoff unit. It's also safe to say that the vision he had with the Garland-Mitchell-Mobley-Allen quartet has not worked.
Building a team with two non-shooting bigs is a major risk. There is a reason why other teams in the NBA aren't doing it. Altman decided to zag while the rest of the NBA was zigging. And when you do that, you better succeed.
The Cavs didn't fail necessarily, but they also haven't succeeded. Because of that, Altman probably has enough credit to last another season. This summer will be critical for him. He has to nail the decisions regarding Garland, Mitchell, and Allen.
Depending on what he does the rest of this offseason, Altman's seat may start getting warmer, especially since there is no guarantee that the Cavs will be able to find a better head coach than J.B. Bickerstaff.
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