CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – A decade ago Mike Gansey was driving players to get physicals and doing every other menial task that could be asked of an intern who was simply trying to put his playing days behind him and carve out a career.
The Olmstead Falls native is now charged with working along side president of basketball operations Koby Altman to return the Cavaliers to prominence as the team’s general manager.
In his new role, Gansey will take on a more active role publicly – be it with reporters or other team initiatives – while continuing to work with Altman on shaping Cleveland’s roster through the draft, free agency or trades.
“It will be a work in progress,” Gansey said Monday evening.
Even with Gansey’s promotion, Altman maintains final say with roster decisions.
“Koby’s always the boss [but] anything we do – J.B., myself, Koby and the group – we’ll always come to an agreement and just move forward,” Gansey said. “I’m not going to do anything without Koby’s permission and obviously making a move without J.B. and then obviously running something by ownership as well but, it’s a collective group which is good.”
Gansey touched on a variety of topics during a 30-minute sit down with writers prior to Monday night’s 127-122 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves that saw Cleveland run out to an early 14-point lead and rally from 23 down before losing in the closing seconds.
At 36-25, the Cavaliers are among the NBA’s feel-good stories and surprise teams this season, which has fans resetting expectations for a team that won 60 games combined the previous three seasons. It’s hard not to imagine that Gansey and the Cavaliers are doing the same.
“If you would have told us, I guess with just the way we’re progressing, if we were in the Play-In Game I think we’d be very, very happy with that,” Gansey said. “And I guess you could say we’re ahead of schedule, but the exciting thing is we’re so young. Everyone talks about Darius, Evan, and Jarrett but Lauri’s 24, Isaac’s 22, Collin’s [23]. There are six guys under 25 that hopefully are our core moving forward.”
With the Cavs currently sitting as the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, clinching a playoff spot outright and avoiding the play-in tournament is very realistic.
“The play-in is definitely a big step for us,” Gansey said. “Now, obviously, with us being in the top six so to speak, now that, I think it’s exceeded our expectations and I think if you ask J.B., the coaching staff and just all of us, we want more. I think that’s just kind of our mentality, like, let’s try to sneak in the top six if we can.”
With the East so tight and competitive combined with their inexperience, how would Gansey now define success for 2021-22?
“I think it’s just trying to get as many wins as we can but if we could just sneak into the playoffs and have a playoff series, I think that would be a huge success,” Gansey said. “Just to get these guys that experience and grow. We got a long road ahead with these last [21] games, but I know that group in there is motivated to get there. I just think, like, getting in the playoffs and trying to experience that would be a huge remarkable success for where we’ve been.”
The Cavs are trying to make the playoffs without LeBron James on their roster for the first time since the 1997-98 season when they went 47-35 before bowing out in the first round.
“The hope is we get to the playoffs and see what we can do there and then continue to be a playoff team that hopefully makes small steps and hopefully can contend for an Eastern Conference and potentially a Finals,” Gansey said. “We want to get back to where we were four or five years ago. And we’re young, so it’s going to take some time and patience, but you see Atlanta, they had a great year last year. They’ve had some injuries and anything’s possible, but we just got to stay the course, don’t try to skip steps.”
Gansey has been impressed with the camaraderie among the young players who spend off days together, including supporting Cleveland Charge teammates.
“We have a really good group that we think we can grow with, not only now but three, four years from now, five years from now,” Gansey continued. “That’s what we want to do, something sustainable, where it’s not like this is just a one-year run, and then that’s it. Hopefully, with the young guys we have, they’re just only going to get better like they’ve shown and see what we can do.”
Injuries to All-Star guard Darius Garland and veterans Rajon Rondo and Caris LeVert threaten to derail their ascent. Garland has been in and out of the lineup due to a bone bruise in his back, Rondo sprained his big toe and LeVert suffered a sprained foot.
Garland didn’t miss the All-Star festivities because he was feeling fine leading up to the break according to Gansey, who noted there wasn’t much contact with defense optional for him to deal with unlike regular games.
“You watch him in shootaround and see him in pregame and he’s fine,” Gansey said. “It’s like a bone bruise, where it’s just, like, a day-to-day thing, like nothing long-term, just he needs rest. Obviously, rest is not on our side right now.
“Who knows, maybe Wednesday, he’ll wake up and feel good. I don’t know. I just think this proper rest here will only help him. There’s nothing structural or anything there, it’s just something he’s got to deal with the rest of the year, unfortunately.”
Kevin Love is a legitimate sixth-man award candidate. Gansey believes Love’s fallout with USA Basketball over the summer and the reaction to it in the media lit a fire within the five-time All-Star.
“I think that really motivated him,” Gansey said. “Obviously he was going to be part of the team and he wasn’t part of the team. I think drafting Evan, him willing to sacrifice and come off the bench for the better of the team and playing 20-25 minutes, kind of having a deal with J.B. like, ‘Hey if I’ve got it going and I’m rolling, can I stay in?’ J.B.’s a great coach with that stuff, giving guys some freedom if they’ve got it going they’re going to play.
“I just think the U.S.A. [Basketball] thing motivated him because anytime you go in that kind of situation and some people say some stuff about you, and it’s negative so to speak, he’s got something to prove this year which I think he’s done that. He’s proven he can be an impactful player on a good team. We’d have five, six, seven more losses if he’s not playing.”
One of the issues Gansey, Altman and the Cavs will have to deal with in the offseason is Collin Sexton’s future.
Sexton’s season ended after he suffered a torn meniscus and another knee injury suffered by Ricky Rubio led Cleveland to deal Rubio’s expiring contract and their lottery protected first-round pick in the 2022 draft to Indiana for LeVert.
So is there still room for Sexton?
“I think so,” Gansey said. “I mean, based on what we’ve seen this year, you can’t have enough playmakers and ballhandlers.”