Grade Koby Altman

[JJ_PR]

Koby Altman is the successor to David Griffin in the Cleveland Cavaliers. I'll grade some of his transactions moves in the following section.

Transaction #1
Cavs trade Kyrie Irving to Boston in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic & the 8th pick in the '18 draft.
Grade: B-

Summary: Cavs traded a disgruntled Kyrie in exchange for a what seemed at the time a nice package. That said, Isaiah was irrelevant, Crowder wasn't the same player. The Brooklyn pick was nice, but Kyrie could've potentially fetched a higher pick in that draft.

Transaction #2
Cavs trade Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye & a first round pick in exchange for Jordan Clarkson & Larry Nance.
Grade: D+

Summary: The Isaiah experiment came to hault rather quickly. This move was puzzling in many ways for the cavs; neither Clarkson or Nance were a good fit on the roster & they gave up a first, main reason I gave them that grade.

Transaction #3
Cavs re-sign Kevin Love 4 yrs 120 mil.
Grade: F

Summary: What was Altman thinking? He bid against himself here. Love's contract is the reason the Cavs couldn't get value out of J.R. Smith's unguaranteed deal.

Transaction #4
Cavs trade George Hill for Matthew Dellavedova, John Henson & '22 first rounder.
Grade: A+

Summary: Altman did what any rebuilding team would do; sell cap space for assets. That Bucks pick could be very valuable down the line.

Transaction #5
Cavs trade Iman Shumpert & Alec Burks for Brandon Knight & a '19 late first rounder
Grade: A-

Summary: Getting a late first for essentially free is always a win.

Transaction #6 - Draft choices.
Grade: B-

Summary: Aside from Garland, I'm not a huge fan of his moves. I thought he should've gone for Knox over Sexton last year. I have a feeling Knox will have a huge breakout year after showing flashes last year.

A Garland - Knox duo is a solid core for the future. The only reason for drafting Sexton could be they want to play small ball, which makes these moves more comphrehensible. I'm not sold on Porter yet; I hope he proves me wrong.

Transaction #7
Cavs hire John Beilein
Grade: A+

Summary: Not much to say here. He's a highly regarded college coach.

Overall grade: B+

Some key mistakes bump his grade down just a tad.

[jbk1234]

So on the Kyrie trade, I probably would've insisted on Brown or Tatum but I don't know what other offers were out there. The Cavs needed someone good to help that year. Those Celtic role players were always overrated. I think I had it a C at the time and I'll stick with it. Kyrie is a talented head case who is likely to regret demanding that trade for the rest of his career.

On the Nance and Clarkson trade, I agree they shouldn't have given up a first. That said, they were desperate due to the players the Celtics sent back. You're wrong on Nance though. He's worth every dollar we're paying him. I'll give it a C.

I really don't get the Love hate some Cavs fans have. We're so much worse when he's not on the court it's ridiculous. Even if you think his current contract is an overpay, and after the most recent set of extensions that probably warrants some reflection, we're a far better team when he plays. I'll give it a C.

As for the rest, it's Bs or incomplete. Knox sucked and then got hurt. Sexton has both attributes and flaws. Bridges looks raw at SF for the Suns (my favorite).

We know next to nothing about our current picks. When Altman has an A trasanction, it will be obvious. He's done a solid, but not great, job. I'll take it.

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[Stillwater]

Griff and Gilbert parted ways in June of 17
in July of 17 with Lebron still on the roster and the team still in win now mode
7-10 through 7-25-17 cavs sign vets Calderon,Green,Korver and Rose along with Osman.
8-22-17 trade the disgruntled Irving to Boston for Isaiah , Crowder,Zizic,Nets 2018 first unprotected, 2020 mia 2nd and a tpe
9-7-17 through 10-18-17 signed Holland (2-w) Perk,J Williams,Wade,Hamilton and Perantes waiving Williams & Tavares.
10-14-17 traded RJ,Felder couple 2nds and cash to ATL for multiple TPE's and draft rights to a couple of intl nobodies.
2-8-19 deadline deal
Crowder,Rose 2024 2nd swap rights multiple TPE's to Utah for Hood and cash re-routing Joe Johnson also acquired from Utah to Sac along with Shumpert 2020 mia 2nd for George Hill and rights to another intl nobody
Cavs traded Wade to Mia for TPE and conditional 2nd
Cavs trade the broken Isaiah Thomas, Frye a TPE and a late 2018 1st to Lakers for Nance and JC
--------remember they were still in win now mode yet were also no longer all in long term as if Lebron was returning because he was not , they felt it was inevitable and had to make moves that helped long term while also helping them compliment Lebron in what ultimately proved to be his last season ever in CLE.
Altman and company did a decent job considering the double priority issue they were faced with.

since then they have done a damn solid job preparing for the future in the draft by tanking hard getting a top 5 pick , using previously acquired 2nds and players to get KPJ at 30 ( absolute steal) and hiring Beilein for the rebuild to make this roster into a contender long term.

Every move that ALtman has made he has followed up with a future deal using those players or assets acquired to improve the roster long term. It often takes a series of trades to ultimately achieve your goal,
grading one trade without accounting for the end result is your mistake.

as far as the draft goes we will not know how good these players are for awhile, but the skill is there and the optimism should be as well

[gflem]

I gave Altman a solid C. Without rehashing all of the above moves he was thrust into the position at the worst possible time and came out OK.
He looked silly in trying to get more out of the C's in the Kryrie trade but he was likely under pressure from Dan due to poor reviews from the news of the impending trade. I personally would have preferred the rumored Suns trade, but who knows if what was rumored was even offered/true?
As for the Nance/Clarkson trade I think that story is still waiting to unfold if/when Clarkson is moved. This seasons trades and subsequent off season moves will really be where Kobe proves if he is a solid GM or just another guy. He has had ample time to adjust and learn how to be an NBA GM, and also to formulate a plan for the franchise moving forward. He should now know the current players strengths and weaknesses, and what their worth around the league is.
If he screws this up we will be looking at a long rebuild, likely with another person as GM.