The ghost of LeBron James will forever haunt the Cleveland Cavaliers. The King’s latest free-agency saga took center stage this summer.
To no surprise, James was a key talking point during Koby Altman and Kenny Atkinson’s media availability. Specifically, whether the Cavs missed their chance to improve the roster and entice James for one more homecoming.
“I think the misconception is, if we do something, that means [James] comes back,” said Altman. “That’s a misconception.”
The Cavs watched as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaylen Brown changed teams this summer. It’s impossible to know if Cleveland could have swung for either one of those players, but it’s safe to assume their best package would have been in the mix.
Altman says the idea that James would have returned to Cleveland if the Cavs had traded for one of the big names on the market is incorrect.
“We explore everything, as you know. We’re a really active franchise. We explore different things, different prices, different price points, and to go out and get that caliber of player [like Antetokounmpo or Brown], you’re giving up a lot. Is that the best thing for the team and the best thing for our future? And so not going too far deep into that question in terms of specifics, both [trade possibilities] would have taken a toll on both [our present and future] if we would have gone down that path.”
Sticking to your guns has been a theme of this era of Cavs basketball. Cleveland has kept the same core intact for most of the decade, while shuffling things on the margins to see what sticks. It wasn’t until this previous season that they made a major swing for James Harden, but aside from that, they’ve stuck to the same construction that’s led to success in the regular season.
“We’ll leave that internal in terms of our conversation with [James],” said Altman on his reported meeting with James earlier this summer.
“We have a lot of confidence and faith in the talent that we have in-house. You don’t fluke your way to the Eastern Conference Finals [last season],” said Altman.
“I’m not downplaying the enormity of [James’] decision and the magnitude of the decision. I get all of that, I just think the way we’re built as an organization is we have a great foundation and a great sort of ecosystem within our franchise in terms of talent, coaching staff, our performance staff. We’re built for a sustainable run here, regardless of one outcome.”
As for what ultimately led to James choosing Philly over Cleveland, the answer remains a mystery. Altman declined to reveal any of the details behind his meeting with James this summer.
“We’ll leave that internal, in terms of our conversation with him,” said Altman. “We have tremendous respect for LeBron, what he means to this organization, what he means to this region.”
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