How Koby Altman rebuilt the Cavs into contenders in just 3 years

Altman and the Cavs’ rebuild: Signs of hope

Things weren’t always smooth for the Cavs during the rebuild. As in many rebuilds, they had rough stretches and hard times. You can point to the Cavaliers going from Tyronn Lue to Larry Drew to John Beilein’s not-even-full season, or trading talented second-year guard Kevin Porter Jr.

Even though they got Andre Drummond for pennies on the dollar he never really worked out in Cleveland either. You can certainly point to these moments as the low points in the Cavs rebuild.

Sexton continued to build off a solid second half of his rookie year by averaging an efficient 20.8 ppg his second year and 24.3 ppg his 3rd year. Sexton also turned himself into a respectable shooter from outside.

Garland wasn’t good as a rookie. Once you factor in that he coming off his injury and never being physically right, it was no surprise he really struggled as a rookie. After another year in which they had one of the worst records in basketball at 19-46, the Cavs once again got the 5th pick in the draft. They desperately needed a wing with a defensive-first mentality and that led them to select Isaac Okoro out of Auburn. He had a lot of defensive talent and while raw offensively, they were hoping it would eventually come around.

In year two Garland was more physically ready and he looked much more like the talent the Cavs saw him as when they drafted him No. 5 overall. For the season he averaged 17.4 ppg, 6.1 ast, 2.4 rebs and 1.2 steals, while shooting 39.5 from 3 and 45.1 from the field overall. More impressive still was his post-All-Star break stretch, when he showed some signs of a breakout averaging 18.8 ppg, 6,3 ast, 2.6 rebs and 1.3 steals, while shooting 40.4 percent from 3 and 46.3 from the field overall.

If drafting Darius Garland was the start of turning the rebuild around and Altman finding him at 5, the most impressive transaction was Altman simply stealing Jarrett Allen in the James Harden trade from the Nets. It can’t be said enough: this was a steal for the Cavs, plain and simple.

It was pretty clear that Brooklyn wasn’t willing to pay him, which looks like a big mistake. All it took was a late-first, Dante Exum and a second-rounder. At the time the Nets likely viewed Allen as a shot-blocking, rim rolling big, but weren’t sure if he was switchable on defense and feared he could be schemed off the court at the end of games. When Houston didn’t want him as part of the return for Harden, it opened the door for the Cavs.

In Allen’s first season with the Cavs he was solid. He posted a respectable 13.2 ppg, 9.9 rebs per game and 1.4 bpg, while shooting 60.9 percent from the field. Allen made tremendous strides from his rookie year. Again, in my opinion, one of the reasons the Nets didn’t want to pay Allen is there were questions he could get schemed off the court at the end of games. But his second year showed he is very capable of switching and hanging with guys on the perimeter. It’s made him more versatile than anybody would have thought.

Allen in his second year made an appearance in the All-Star Game and averaged 16.1 ppg,  10.8 rebs, 1.3 blocks and shot 67.7 percent from the field overall. Hindsight at the time some thought the Cavs may have overpaid Allen when they gave him a 5-year, $100 million offer. That said, he has the ability to be an All-Defensive Player, and he was a big reason for the Cavaliers’ rise this past season and the leap they made defensively.

Now the contract looks like one of the better contracts in basketball.