CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The easy thing for Koby Altman to do was nothing.
Even with the Cavaliers holding the best record in the NBA prior to the NBA trade deadline, Altman wasn’t satisfied.
“You don't start off 15-0 without chemistry, great continuity and great vibes,” Altman said “But at the end of the day, my job is to help this team get better and we can't just rest on our record. We can't just rest on chemistry and good vibes. We got to get better and it's an arms race in the east. It's very competitive and we know that this is not going to be easy, and so we wanted to set ourselves up with the best chance to be successful.
The addition of De’Andre Hunter from the Hawks at the deadline underscores the raising of expectations and better equipping the roster to compete for an NBA Finals run.
“Even though we're off to such a great start, even though that the regular season record is what it is, we're thinking past April and we're thinking how do we continue to progress,” Altman said. “How do we win rounds of the playoffs? How do we ultimately set ourselves up for a championship?”
The 6-foot-8 Hunter should give the Cavs more size defending on the perimeter and allow them to better match up against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics.
“We got better,” Altman said. “I don't know how to quantify that; I can't put that into percentages for you. All I know is we got size and length at the wing now that can guard multiple positions and that has been a prolific score this year that you have to account for on the floor at all times. And so you get a true two-way wing that you add to this group and it makes us better.”
In 28 minutes per game this season Hunter is averaging 19.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.8 steals per game this season while shooting 46.1% from the field.
Even better, Hunter, 27, is under contract for two more seasons and the Cavs were able to dip under the tax threshold for this season, something Altman said was not a mandate from ownership.
“He fits our timeline,” Altman said. “He gives us cost certainty when we're going to be in some big depths in terms of apron, restrictiveness, if you will. And so there's a lot more than just obviously the postseason. There's a long runway here with this team and De’Andre fits that.”
The trade cost Altman Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three second round picks and two more second round pick swaps.
“[Hunter] can make a shot, he could put the ball on the floor, he could put pressure on the rim,” Altman said. “And so all of that mixed in with the price in terms of what we had to give up to get De’Andre Hunter got me to the point where I was ready to make this kind of move that I don't take lightly.”
Altman understood the risk of upsetting the team’s chemistry by dealing LeVert and Niang, which is why he flew to Washington D.C. to meet with the team Friday morning.
“They didn't give me a standing ovation, but they get it and I think it's just important for them to hear from me the why, being transparent,” Altman said. “I think they understand that it's a business, but they want honesty and transparency and they deserve that. And like I said, we can feel both ways about this. We can feel both ways. We feel sadness. These were close friends of guys on the team. Caris has been with us three years. You're not going to find a more wonderful human being, first class human being. And so this was difficult and we need to acknowledge that and not just put that to the side. And so I wanted to be able to look our guys in the eye and say the why and say it's okay to feel both ways and we're all excited about De’Andre, but it's okay to have empathy for our guys that went out.”
Hunter is undergoing his physical Friday in Cleveland, and once LeVert and Niang pass theirs with Atlanta, Hunter can make his debut, which likely will come Monday night against the Timberwolves.
