CLEVELAND, Ohio - It’s a new season for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The team opened the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse doors to the media on Monday morning, revealing both old and new faces for the upcoming NBA season.
Coming off a 51-31 regular-season mark and a 4th-place finish in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs returned themselves to the postseason for the first time since 2018. However, last season ended on a sour note in an opening-round loss to the New York Knicks in five games.
With two full successful seasons under their belts, the Cavs are now looking to further grow with its current talent crop.
KOBY ALTMAN & JB BICKERSTAFF
Monday began with the tandem of the Cavs’ head coach, JB Bickerstaff, and President of Basketball Operations, Koby Altman.
Altman, who was arrested and charged with driving while impaired last month, opened the press conference by publicly addressing the incident for the first time.
“I feel awful about the distraction that this incident has caused our organization and team," Altman said. "I've had several conversations across the building with players, coaches and ownership on down and have expressed that same sentiment to them as well.”
Altman also said he had conversations with Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, stating those discussions will remain internal. He also declined to answer whether he expects to be disciplined by ownership, and said he could not comment further on the incident due to it being an ongoing legal matter.
Following his opening statement, Altman addressed the absence of guard Ricky Rubio, who publicly took a leave from basketball this past summer due to mental health concerns. Altman said Rubio’s absence was excused, with the organization in full support of Rubio. Altman also said it was hoped Rubio could return to the Cavs at some point this season.
From there, the duo addressed a number of Cavs-centric topics, including the team’s playoff loss to New York, in which the Cavs were considered to be outmatched in physicality.
“You saw younger guys who haven’t fully developed, playing against older guys who have more years, more experience, more age,” said Bickerstaff. “What I saw from our guys — which is most important to me — from the day after it happened, guys were willing to do whatever it takes in order to improve that. We will be a much more physical basketball team this year, and that will prep us for those moments.”
Cleveland was ranked number one in both defensive rating and opponent points per game, but after the Knicks out-muscled the Cavs in both rebounding and inside scoring, an emphasis was placed on the Cavs in getting tougher - and, shooting better.
“I know a lot’s been made of toughness piece, the physicality piece, the rebounding piece…Those games were played, largely, in the 1990s, which are winnable games. We’ve got to score. We’ve got to score the ball. Looking at ourselves in the mirror, what do we need to add? What do we need to give coach and this roster?…We addressed that. We’ll see how it plays out over the course of the 82-game season. We take the regular season very serious, and we hope it prepares us for success in the playoffs.”
Cleveland Cavaliers Evan Mobley talks to reporters in a press conference during Monday's media day at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.Mitch Spinell
EVAN MOBLEY
Following the opening presser, the Cavs player soon took to the podium, beginning with third-year forward Evan Mobley.
Mobley made great strides during his sophomore campaign, earning All-Defensive First Team status as the second-youngest player to be awarded such an honor.
Improving physicality, according to Mobley, was an important part of his offseason. After installing a home gym, a personal chef, and a new nutrition program, Mobley revealed he had gained seven pounds of muscle during the summer, going from 215 to “222-ish.”
“That was big focus going into the summer,” said Mobley. As a player, adding that aspect to my offseason [and in-season work] is really going to help and benefit me.”
Mobley, who averaged 16.2 points and 67.4% from the field last season (21.6% on three-pointers), also noted on his shooting prowess, saying he had been working on “all aspects of shooting” ahead of the upcoming season.
Caris LeVert (left) signs an autograph for a fan during Monday's Cleveland Cavaliers media day at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.Mitch Spinell
CARIS LEVERT
Sixth-year veteran Caris LeVert returns for his third season in Cleveland, after a 2022-23 campaign that saw LeVert operate mainly as a reserve - with breakout tendencies.
Now, LeVert is hoping for greener pastures in an offseason that is different than his previous one.
"Last summer, not a lot of people know, but I had a shoulder surgery, so I wasn't able to train the way I wanted to," LeVert said. "But this offseason, I was able to train the whole way through, so I was able to get some great work in. So I'm excited for the season, for sure."
The 28-year-old guard averaged 12.1 points per game last season while backing up the likes of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. He was still the fifth-leading scorer on the Cavs, while averaging 39.2% from the 3-point line.
“For myself, I just want to carry the momentum I had at the end of [last] season. I had a great offseason of work, so I’m excited to get going.”
Over his final 12 games at the end of last season, LeVert managed double-digit scoring in 11 of those contests, averaging 15.8 points and 3.8 assists per game.
Following the opening of offseason free agency, LeVert immediately re-signed with the Cavs for a multi-year contract.
“It was important to come back, just because I love it here,” LeVert explained. “I love the city. I love the team, and I felt like we were building in the right direction. Obviously, we had a disappointing end to the season, but the season as a whole was a great success...And I had a big role on the team. Obviously, starting some games, coming off the bench in games. For me, it was kind of fun to figure that puzzle out, each and every night…This year, I look forward to doing the same.”
DONOVAN MITCHELL
LeVert was followed by Donovan Mitchell, whose first season commanded a lot of attention from Cleveland and NBA fans alike.
‘Spider’ returns for his second season with the Cavs, after earning his fourth All-Star nod and averaging career-bests in points (28.3), assists (4.4), rebounds (4.3), and steals (1.43) in a career-high 35.8 minutes. Along with an All-NBA Second Team honor and a 71-point performance against the Chicago Bulls last January, Mitchell is poised to return to Cleveland as one of the league’s best players.
The question is, for how long will he stay in Cleveland?
Mitchell addressed questions about him not having signed a contract extension with the Cavs going into the upcoming season. Mitchell, who still has two guaranteed years remaining on his current deal, has until Oct. 23 to sign a three-year extension.
While many may wonder about his current financial thoughts, Mitchell stated his focus was on the upcoming year.
“Obviously, for myself, I want it to be known that I still have the opportunity to sign an extension next summer. I don’t think a lot of people understand that aspect. Right now, my focus is…we added some new additions. We obviously had a season that…went really well, until it went really poorly. For us, that’s where all of our heads are at. That’s here my head is at. I’m really excited about what we’ve got going here. That’s the biggest thing.”
Mitchell added: “When the season’s over, we’ll get to that. I’ve addressed that with the front office. I still have an opportunity to do the same thing next summer. [I know] this won’t be the last time I’ll, probably, have to answer this question, but we’ve got something really special here. It starts with this season, and that’s the main goal.”
At the end of his press conference, when asked to confirm he would not sign an extension within the next three weeks, Mitchell answered: “If I were to, it would be next summer.”
“It’s more so…going off of what we did last year. That’s my primary focus — this. Just trying to go out there and be the best team we can be, and bring a championship to the city. I’ve addressed this with [Altman] and everybody over there. I can still do it — still sign this extension, and I’m excited for what we’ve got going forward.”
Darius Garland talks to reporters during Monday's Cleveland Cavaliers media day at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.Mitch Spinell
DARIUS GARLAND
Following late-offseason trades around the NBA —including Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, and Jrue Holiday to the Boston Celtics — Cavs guard Darius Garland answered if those moves (or any) impacted where the team stood itself in the Eastern Conference.
“It didn’t really do anything for us,” said Garland. “We know what we have to do to be good. We know everything about everybody, so, we just have to go out there and lay it all out on the floor. We have to go play hard. We have to go play with a sense of urgency of…that we want to be a top-three team in the East.”
Garland, said “It took months” to get over the opening-round loss to the Knicks, while also saying he and several players got together during the summer in Miami, as well as a trip to Connecticut for Mitchell’s birthday.
As for Mitchell’s contract extension, Garland said: “He’s his own grown man. I’m not making any decisions for him. We’d love to have him in Cleveland, but he’s going to make the best decision for himself.”
TRISTAN THOMPSON
Monday also saw the return of one member of what many consider the greatest Cavaliers team in the franchise’s history.
Tristan Thompson, who featured on Cleveland’s 2016 NBA championship squad, re-surfaced after re-signing with the Cavs in the offseason following stints in with the five different teams over the previous two seasons.
“I always felt like, at some point in my life, I would return back here,” said Thompson. “I’m glad I’m back.”
The 32-year-old Thompson inked a one-year contract with Cleveland last month, bringing a veteran presence and a hopeful hint of tough love to the young Cavs - in particular, Evan Mobley, who compared his ability to a perennial NBA All-Star.
“I remember when we came here when I was in Boston, in Evan’s first year….I always called him a young Chris Bosh, and now I’m calling him a young Anthony Davis. [Davis], when he’s healthy, he’s always been a top-five player in our league, and I think Evan has that potential to be that kind of guy.”
As far as his own role for the Cleveland, Thompson talked about handling potential tough times for the team: “I would love for the team to go through adversity during the season, so that, when we get to the postseason, guys are comfortable being uncomfortable. That’s what Im hoping for. The good thing, for this team, is they’ve been through what happened last year, and that wasn’t a good feeling at all. Especially with the way the series played out, and how they lost…But, I’m here to help them weather the storm just because I have the experience, and I’ve been through moments like that.”
Thompson added he (and the Cavs) have “been down 2-to-1…been down 3-to-1…if anyone knows how to get through a s---storm, it would be me.”
MAX STRUS
A big point of the Cavs’ offseason was the additions of players like former Philadelphia 76ers forward Georges Niang and Miami Heat forward Max Strus.
The latter, who Cleveland acquired via a sign-and-trade agreement with Miami this offseason, spoke to reporters on Monday.
“When I heard they were interested, I was entered as well,” said Strus. ”When I knew Miami wasn’t going to work out, this was probably the next-best situation for me. The ability to come here and space the floor for the stars that we have in Darius and Donovan is something I think is going to be very productive and helpful for our team.”
Strus even cited a former Heat teammate — and former Cavalier —, Kevin Love, as part of why he was excited to come to Cleveland.
“Kevin was one of the first people I called. He couldn’t have been more positive about the city of Cleveland alone, and the organization here. If you guys are happy that I’m here, I think Kevin should get a big nod to that/. He told me it was a ‘no-brainer.’ He said, ‘Max, you’re everything they need. You’d be a great fit. The guys are great. The organization is great.’ Kevin definitely talked very highly of it, and he hasn’t steered me wrong once. Very appreciative for Kevin Love.”
Strus’s role with the Cavs is still up for discussion, as Bickerstaff did not confirm if Strus would be a first-day starter for the team: He was the guy that we went after in free agency because we believe that he can help us the most…but I don't know who's going to start for us on opening night.”
JARRETT ALLEN
Cavs big man Jarrett Allen rounded out the Cavs’ podium players on Monday, talking about the team’s next step in their growth.
“We’ve shown we’re a great team in the regular season. Now, in the public eye, we’re not a regular season team anymore. We’re going to be graded on our playoff performances now.”
Allen, who averaged 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game last season, also addressed criticism from fans after Cleveland’s early playoff exit. Allen, who said he deleted all of his social media apps following the loss, didn’t blame the fans for their criticism.
“Things just didn't go as planned in the playoffs and [the Knicks] ‘out-physicaled’ us,” Allen said.
