Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman has signed a contract extension that will run through the 2029/30 season, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.
Altman last signed an extension back in January 2022. Reporting at the time indicated that deal kept him under contract through ’27/28, so the new extension will tack on two additional years.
Altman, who has been the head of basketball operations in Cleveland since 2017, oversaw the post-LeBron James rebuild following the star forward’s departure in 2018 and has since constructed one of the NBA’s most talented rosters. The Cavaliers have won at least 48 games and earned a playoff berth in each of the past three seasons. In 2024/25, the club racked up a conference-high 64 regular season victories.
The Cavaliers have drafted Darius Garland and Evan Mobley during Altman’s tenure, as well as trading for Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell. Altman also oversaw the 2024 head coaching search that resulted in the team hiring Kenny Atkinson, who earned Coach of the Year honors this spring.
Altman’s job will get more challenging going forward — after remaining out of luxury tax territory for seven straight seasons in the wake of James’ exit, the Cavs have soared past that tax threshold this offseason and will be operating above the second tax apron in 2025/26.
While carrying one of the league’s most expensive rosters is more of a burden on ownership than management, the roster restrictions that apply to second-apron teams will make it more difficult for Altman and his front office to continue complementing the Cavs’ core with quality role players.
Cleveland lost Ty Jerome in free agency this offseason, but re-signed free agent wing Sam Merrill, swapped Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball, and brought back former Cav Larry Nance Jr.
According to Charania, other members of Altman’s front office – including general manager Mike Gansey and assistant general manager Brandon Weems – have also been extended.
Altman engineered the most one-sided trade of the century when he acquired young franchise player Donovan Mitchell (2025 First team All-NBA) from Utah 3 years ago. The trade instantly reversed 2 teams’ fortunes in a way possibly never seen in NBA history.
With Mitchell, Utah had made playoffs 5 straight seasons. Without Mitchell, they’ve missed the playoffs 3 straight seasons, and had league-worst record last season, and, moreover. are likely do it again in 2025-26. The Jazz remain years from contention.
Without Mitchell, Cleveland had missed the playoffs the 3 previous years. With Mitchell, they’ve made the playoffs 3 straight years, and had the East’s best record this year, and are the East favorite next season. As one of the league’s youngest teams, Cleveland is on the rise.
As Cleveland continues to win over the coming seasons, the draft capital due to Utah from will have little value. Plus, the original players that came from Cleveland have failed. Colin Sexton just got dumped and Lauri Markkanen is overpaid by $15M/yr.
To this point, the trade is decisively one-sided. But if Cleveland does win a title with Mitchell (with Lillard, Tatum, and Haliburton down, this just might be the year), the trade joins the short-list of the NBA’s all-time worst.
@Aristotle
I don’t look at it so much as they “lost” the trade. I do think they weren’t committed to winning and this agent committed to the player. Sexton has had incredibly good offensive shooting numbers yet till less shots than others. He’s been a 49/40/85 shooter and feces to take more than 13 shots per game. He should’ve showcased him for 35 minutes a game and traded him sooner.
What do feces have to do with anything?
Read twice, post once
@KnicksFanCavsFan,
I agree that Sexton shoold have been moved sooner, but he continues to be exactly what he was when Utah acquired him and playing him 35 minutes per game wouldn’t have made Sexton more or less tradeable. Sexton is what he is: a very good individual scorer, but a major defensive liability. He’s not an NBA starter, but he’ll earn his 20 minutes per game off the bench. Now that he’s in Charlotte, that’s exactly how he’ll be used.
I disagree that it’s not right to look at Utah as having “lost” the Mitchell trade. Utah bet AGAINST Mitchell while Cleveland bet ON Mitchell. Ainge is on record as saying that Mitchell couldn’t lead a winning team, and that the trade would make Utah better.
Ainge thought he was getting a bunch of high draft picks when he traded Mitchell to the bottom-dwelling Cavs. Instead, Mitchell led the ascension of the Cavs to the top-tier of the NBA, so those draft picks won’t help Utah much.