Koby Altman nailed, then failed to take breathalyzer…

[weepinwillow]

Would you be happy if this team played to Reggie’s teams limit? Or do you want more than that? That was my point.

Reggie's team's limits were competing for a championship with a chance to win a title. That is the only correct assessment of his best teams.

Would you be happy if the Cavs competed for a title over the next 7-12 seasons?

I get your point, I just don't think you are making it very well with that comp. A perennial first round and out guy, say Carmelo or McGrady, would have been more appropot.

 

[Alabuckeye]

Reggie's team's limits were competing for a championship with a chance to win a title. That is the only correct assessment of his best teams.

Would you be happy if the Cavs competed for a title over the next 7-12 seasons?

I get your point, I just don't think you are making it very well with that comp. A perennial first round and out guy, say Carmelo or McGrady, would have been more appropot.

I do think I understated Reggie’s achievements. My memory was not quite what I thought it was……

the 90’s Cavs got close as well, but Michael stood in their way.

my bottom line point is that there will be tinkering needed to get them over the championship hump. Maybe they have all the parts necessary to win a championship. But I doubt it. Koby will need to do that. He’s a really sharp guy obviously so I wouldn’t bet against him.

 

[PIP]

Would you be happy if this team played to Reggie’s teams limit? Or do you want more than that? That was my point.

I feel ya. It’s a hard parallel however cause that was an era in which free agency and player movement was not at this level…

All things considered Indy (for their market) did fairly well… They drafted well (even guys like Croshere & Best & Foster we’re developed later on)

Free Agency really hit hard in the NBA in 1996 and it in some way impacted the Pacers more than any team from a negative standpoint…. Not only did the Knicks get Allan Houston & Chris Childs & Larry Johnson that summer (all helped prevent the Pacers from advancing in 1999) but the Lakers got Shaq (who they lost to in the 2000 finals)

They also traded and developed Jalen Rose and made a decent signing (for them) in Mullin…. They made their error by drafting Jonathan Bender in 1999 over drafting Wally or who they were originally considering Shawn Marion, (who went to junior college in Indy before going to UNLV— Pacers were very familiar with Marion)

Point being, anyone would want more than what the Pacers got ultimately…. But to draft well later in the draft, develop, contend, and be in the mix every year is also fine….Luckily the Cavs are in a position to have potentially 2 superstars drafted in the last 3 drafts…They’re already in better position…

 

[Douglar]

Kudos to Jason Lloyd for writing something nice about the Cavs. Took 50 games. He has been brutal the past couple of years

Perhaps he expected another long rebuild with all sorts of underperforming draft picks, coaching flame outs, agitated vets, and money hungry free agents doing the "sign and retire" trick.

To be honest though, that's exactly where this team was 12 months ago. Coaches were on a carousel. Porter forced his way of the team for nothing in return. Love and Drummond were disgruntled. Sexton, Garland, and Okoro looked "incomplete" at best. The front office was cashing in future draft capital for a center when they needed wing talent before drafting and signing two more 7 footers.

 

[Cavatt]

Perhaps he expected another long rebuild with all sorts of underperforming draft picks, coaching flame outs, agitated vets, and money hungry free agents doing the "sign and retire" trick.

To be honest though, that's exactly where this team was 12 months ago. Coaches were on a carousel. Porter forced his way of the team for nothing in return. Love and Drummond were disgruntled. Sexton, Garland, and Okoro looked "incomplete" at best. The front office was cashing in future draft capital for a center when they needed wing talent before drafting and signing two more 7 footers.

Koby had added talent and hadn't whiffed on any picks. Not every move was good, but even Drummond was proof of concept that a defensive C could help the team.

It was one of the worst injury seasons I have ever seen, but the Cavs played well when healthy. Wade was 6th in minutes. It just seemed he repeatedly stripped the context from what the Cavs were going through.

Nobody was pushing "Koby on the hotseat" more than Jason.

I'm not going to pretend everyone should have seen this coming, but the Cavs were competitive when they were healthy and we saw flashes from all 3 of our high draft picks. They had stretches where they looked perfectly competent if incomplete separated by half the roster being out for long periods of time.

His analysis came off as criticism instead repeatedly. It's fine, whatever, but Lloyd consistently underplayed how devoid of assets and talent this team was post Lebron. Kobe was able to increase the talent level on this team with meager assets and aging vets and playing Brandon Knight big minutes was unfortunately one of the only ways to do that. Lloyd was so focused on results he didn't see the process as it was happening at all.

 

[2 For The Brew]

We have almost three months of regular season BB for our young team to get better.

Three months.

We could be better in April than we are now.

Let's savor every moment of this glorious season and not be on a hurry to think about the playoffs just yet.

Our team has achieved 30 wins by busting ass one game at a time. Focused. Disciplined. Tenacious. Resilient. Learning. Unified.

So much respect for this young team of lionhearts.

 

[weepinwillow]

Perhaps he expected another long rebuild with all sorts of underperforming draft picks, coaching flame outs, agitated vets, and money hungry free agents doing the "sign and retire" trick.

To be honest though, that's exactly where this team was 12 months ago. Coaches were on a carousel. Porter forced his way of the team for nothing in return. Love and Drummond were disgruntled. Sexton, Garland, and Okoro looked "incomplete" at best. The front office was cashing in future draft capital for a center when they needed wing talent before drafting and signing two more 7 footers.

I never found Lloyd to be really unfair in his takes on the Cavs. I think he lost some insider access at some point in his career.. maybe when he left for the Athletic (or when Griff was fired?). The instability in a franchise built around LeBron was felt post-LeBron and it probably made for the clunky shift to re-building. Lloyd had the gall to point it out, I guess.

Water under the bridge now.

Cavs are in a great spot in part because they identified talent in the draft, and in part because they got lucky in the draft, and in part because they made prudent moves via trades.

Kind of the hallmark of being a good GM, I would think. And now Koby is President of Basketball Operations, a position long needed on the org chart between basketball and ownership. We look like a healthy NBA franchise for the first time since maybe 1992. (well maybe through 1998).

What's nice is that it isn't just talent, but also culture. There is clearly a really good team-wide cultural fit with this team, and that was starting to become apparent last year despite the losses. Gotta be impressed with Altman and JBB.

 

[BigZ94]

You obviously haven’t bought into this team. For you it doesn’t matter what they do this season.
Perhaps you should change your prism. Making the playoffs, and especially a scenario where they skip the play in games, is a quantum leap for this team and franchise. Depending on seeding, they could be looking at the second round. Whether they win a series against the elite East teams in the primes is not relevant this season.
When you starting 5 is not in their primes, or in some cases not close to it, requires patience.

I was responding to a post claiming we were title contenders, I’ve most definitely bought in and and am ecstatic with the progress this squad has made this season, I was just pointing out we still have another level to reach before we can compete with the top top teams. We beat the Warriors Christmas of 2016 then lost 4-1 in the finals that year, one win regular season win doesn’t mean much coke playoff team and our squad lacks a lot of experience. This was our first win this year against a fully healthy title contender. No doubt I believe this team will be contenders in a couple years or even next year who knows

 

[foucault87]

I think we do have a guy who will be on that Giannis, LeBron...KG level soon enough. Getting the playoff experience this early can be game changing for the development track of our guys and I love that we are in a position to do it

 

[Dr No]

Dear Koby,
Rondo was worth a try. Goodwin was a nice pickup for a third point guard. But I think we can all agree neither of them is the answer to what has ailed us since Rubio went down. We need another guard of Rubio’s quality, or near to it, in the worst way. Please make it happen. Thank you for attending to this issue in a timely manner.

 

[willglam]

Dear Koby,
Rondo was worth a try. Goodwin was a nice pickup for a third point guard. But I think we can all agree neither of them is the answer to what has ailed us since Rubio went down. We need another guard of Rubio’s quality, or near to it, in the worst way. Please make it happen. Thank you for attending to this issue in a timely manner.

Sure but who is realistically available? Denis Schroeder can score but he doesn’t fit the “team culture” Koby likes. And some of the other names out there aren’t as good as Rubio. Maybe make a move for Goran Dragic?

 

[adam81king]

It's weird to see so many people say this team needs someone as good/impactful as Rubio but be quick to trade Rubio to try and get it. Unless there's a reason to think next year won't exist, why not tread water the rest of this year and actually have the real Rubio for 2022-23?

 

[Goldin Brown]

It's weird to see so many people say this team needs someone as good/impactful as Rubio but be quick to trade Rubio to try and get it. Unless there's a reason to think next year won't exist, why not tread water the rest of this year and actually have the real Rubio for 2022-23?

I would like to keep him, I already miss him so much.

 

[AllforOne]

It's weird to see so many people say this team needs someone as good/impactful as Rubio but be quick to trade Rubio to try and get it. Unless there's a reason to think next year won't exist, why not tread water the rest of this year and actually have the real Rubio for 2022-23?

1. They're not advocating trading Rubio; they're advocating trading Rubio's contract. There is a difference.

Rubio's contract is up at the end of this season. Even if the Cavs keep Rubio, there's no guarantee that he'll re-sign here. Conversely, even if the Cavs trade Rubio, they could still re-sign him this summer after he becomes a FA. So it's possible that the Cavs could trade Rubio, get a player who could help this season (and hopefully beyond), and then re-sign Rubio this summer.

2. The "real Rubio" very well may not exist anymore. He's on the wrong side of 30, he'll be coming back from a knee injury that requires 12-18 months for a real recovery in a best-case scenario, and he's in fairly unchartered waters having sustained that same injury to the same knee for a second time. It wouldn't be wise to count on Rubio as anything other than a third-string PG for next season. Even if Rubio did stay here, the Cavs are still going to need somebody else to play PG behind Garland.

 

[chuck0609]

Dear Koby,
Rondo was worth a try. Goodwin was a nice pickup for a third point guard. But I think we can all agree neither of them is the answer to what has ailed us since Rubio went down. We need another guard of Rubio’s quality, or near to it, in the worst way. Please make it happen. Thank you for attending to this issue in a timely manner.

It would help if they had a wing that can score. Yet again circumstances have forced Cedi into a role that he cannot handle.
The reality is this team is ravaged by injuries. Everyone out there right now is forced to do more than they can, so all of their weaknesses are exposed. Defensively they are lacking a bit.
They have to ride this out. Koby cannot panic and burn all the teams assets out of desperation. These damn injuries are already going to force him to use a first round pick on a player like LeVert- the Pacers know the Cavs are desperate. I pray that’s it with Rubios contract.