Koby Altman
President of the Cleveland CavaliersWikipedia
15
MENTIONS
10
EPISODES
8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 15 mentions across 10 episodes found for "Koby Altman".
Oct 15, 2026
Lindsay GottliebGUEST
I'm..." You know, I would get asked all the time am I waiting for an East Coast job like a Duke or a Rutgers or something that's, was closer to my home, and I really wasn't.
Lindsay GottliebGUEST
Um, and then, um, these, these talks about the NBA started to come up, and someone that I know said, "Hey, you really need to connect with Koby Altman," at the time was the GM of the Cavs, now he's the president.
Lindsay GottliebGUEST
They're like, "Oh, you're like-minded.
Lindsay GottliebGUEST
He's young.
Mike LucasGUEST
They didn't have any other counters to it.
Mike LucasGUEST
The Cavs now have, and Kenny Atkinson now has, and Koby Alt- uh, Altman has put together a roster that now has enough versatility and flexibility when everyone's healthy to play a couple different styles.
Mike LucasGUEST
I think they have the ability if they want to play fast, to play huge, to play small, to play slow and deliberate.
Mike LucasGUEST
And I think even within the same game plan, depending on the combinations after the starting lineup, whether it's the James shift or the Donovan shift or you go small, in the same quarter we could see two or three different iterations of how Kenny Atkinson wants to play.
Vincent GoodwillPANELIST
They're pot committed.
Vincent GoodwillPANELIST
L- If nothing else, I give Koby Altman a share of credit for putting it on the line and saying, "You know what, Evan Mobley? I believe in you." Like Evan Mobley's gonna be 26 in June if I remember correctly.
Vincent GoodwillPANELIST
Like he's gone from being, I call him Slim Duncan 'cause, but it's a big difference between Tim Duncan and Slim Duncan.
Vincent GoodwillPANELIST
Like I, I get that.
Vincent GoodwillPANELIST
I see the skill set but I give Koby Altman a lot of credit for, hey, going and trying to get, and getting James Harden even though you know what you're getting when you get James Harden.
Vincent GoodwillPANELIST
And holding onto Evan Mobley.
Vincent GoodwillPANELIST
Like these things are era-defining moves for a franchise when you have the opportunity to go get a Giannis and maximize the tail end of his prime and fully committing to Donovan Mitchell, like you said, when it looked very obvious to me in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter game one against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals that they were going to get swept.
Vince GoodwillGUEST
They're pot committed.
Vince GoodwillGUEST
If nothing else, I give Koby Altman a share of credit for putting it on the line and saying, "You know what, Evan Mobley? I believe in you." Like, Evan Mobley's gonna be 26 in June, if I remember correctly.
Vince GoodwillGUEST
Like, he's gone from being, I call him Slim Duncan 'cause, but it's a big difference between Tim Duncan and Slim Duncan.
Vince GoodwillGUEST
Like, I, I get that.
Vince GoodwillGUEST
I see the skill set, but I give Koby Altman a lot of credit for, hey, going and trying to get, and getting James Harden, even though you know what you're getting when you get James Harden, and holding onto Evan Mobley.
Vince GoodwillGUEST
Like, these things are era-defining moves for a franchise when you have the opportunity to go get a Giannis and maximize the tail end of his prime, and fully committing to Donovan Mitchell, like you said, when it looked very obvious to me in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter of game one against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals that they were going to get swept.
Vince GoodwillGUEST
It was very clear to me that that team had run out of gas and maybe had maxed out.
Paul WilliamsHOST
That's a little hyperbole.
Paul WilliamsHOST
Uh, "Breaking up the Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley frontcourt is the last bullet in the chamber there." They always say dumb shit like we're in such, painted in such a corner, yet Koby Altman always finds a way to make a move when he needs to.
Paul WilliamsHOST
But, uh, yeah, they, they say that that's the last bullet we have in the chamber.
Paul WilliamsHOST
"If Cleveland wanted to mix things up, there's nothing left to be done.
Danny CunninghamHOST
So that top eight, I think, is very clearly defined.
Danny CunninghamHOST
And Kenny Atkinson has said repeatedly, um, I believe he, he said it going all the way back to the pre-media day press conference that he and Koby Altman gave, he wants to play 10 guys.
Danny CunninghamHOST
Um, and in Kenny's time in Cleveland, he has been a coach that has erred on the side of having a longer rotation, especially in the regular season, right? Like, when the postseason arrives, he has shown at times that he's willing to cut things down a little bit.
Danny CunninghamHOST
But it's a long regular season, and he has, to be fair here, found a lot of success with that.
Bob SchmidtHOST
There's no way to know for sure what would've happened.
Bob SchmidtHOST
Now, my presumption, based on Koby's comments at media day and the way that he phrased things, was that had LeBron James chosen the Cavs, the Watson deal wouldn't ever happen.
Bob SchmidtHOST
And I make that assumption based on these comments from Koby when he was asked about, you know, "It seemed like you guys were just waiting on LeBron in the off-season." This is what Koby said during his press availability.
Koby AltmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Uh, with all due respect to the decision and the magnitude of the decision, um, I think we're, we're super competitive regardless of the one outcome.
Koby AltmanSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Uh, and I do think, yes, we had to pivot quickly to figure out how do we continue to, to have a successful off-season.
Bob SchmidtHOST
I, I mean, Lowry Markkanen probably the exception there, but he was a means to an end to get Donovan Mitchell, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna overlook that.
Bob SchmidtHOST
But I haven't been as excited about a big wing on this Cavs roster since Lowry arrived.
Bob SchmidtHOST
And again, huge restricted free agency snag by Koby Altman.
Chris FedorPANELIST
Let's be a little bit more unique in our approach." And Kenny Atkinson talked about it as well.
Chris FedorPANELIST
Koby Altman and this front office being willing to try something different because the free agents that were available to them that they could actually afford were going to be 12th, 13th men in rotation, that caliber player.
Chris FedorPANELIST
So there's just no downside here to signing Hezonja.
Chris FedorPANELIST
Um, but there is upside, and I think you hit on a lot of the upside, and I think the biggest value that he brings is that he's just different than what they already have on this roster.
Paul WilliamsHOST
Uh, Hezonja decided to stay with Real Madrid, stay loyal till the end of the season, and then come over in the off-season.
Paul WilliamsHOST
But I thought Koby Altman saying that and breaking it down for Hezonja in that way, that last year they weren't really expecting to make a championship run.
Paul WilliamsHOST
Whatever they did was kind of just icing on the cake.
Paul WilliamsHOST
But this year, '26, '27 season, was the year they really had circled and were prepping for a true championship run.
Tony PestaHOST
And in all honesty, when a team is at this point in their timeline, if you're the Cavs and you're a legitimate contender, it feels like you're usually punting on these draft picks anyways, right? Like, you're not really paying much attention to who you're selecting in the second round when you're a team like the Cavs.
Tony PestaHOST
But Koby Altman and the Cavs, to their credit, have done a fantastic job in recent years of pinpointing interesting talents on the margins, whether it be Jalen Tyson, Tyrese Proctor, or now this year, Malik Thomas.
Tony PestaHOST
And maybe it won't pan out, maybe Thomas, you know, won't end up being anything to, to pay much attention to.
Tony PestaHOST
But as of right now, I would say he certainly fits that mold of an interesting nineteen-year-old combo guard who could end up being a very fun player to watch develop in Cleveland.