The start of the new season is less than two weeks away for the Cleveland Cavaliers, which means news in and around the team is beginning to pick up. Here are the key stories from the past week for you to follow.
This week’s lead story is clearly Koby Altman, who was pulled over on Friday night in Cleveland coming home from a birthday celebration. He was charged with operating a vehicle while impaired, to which he has since pleaded not guilty.
Our own Mateo Mayorga has been on the story from the start, and posted video of his field sobriety tests and his subsequent arrest on Twitter/X:
President of the Cleveland Cavaliers Koby Altman doing the walk and turn test before his arrest in Cuyahoga County for driving under the influence of alcohol. A personal appearance is required in court. pic.twitter.com/QPMzUedYK2
— mateo mayorga (@mateomayorga23) September 18, 2023
This is a highly concerning story, especially once you layer in the ways that Altman tried to use his title to get out of taking the field sobriety tests. He is likely to face some sort of penalty from the league office, but it’s not clear what that would look like.
As Dan Feldman of Dunc’d On said on Tuesday (subscription required), “Anyone getting behind the wheel while impaired is concerning. If someone in Altman’s leadership position did it, that’d be a particular kind of troubling.”
- The Cleveland Cavaliers are rounding out their training camp roster, signing multiple players to Exhibit 10 contracts. Pete Nance’s deal became official, and they also added old friend Sharife Cooper, sharpshooting rookie guard Justin Powell, and 2018 first-round pick Zhaire Smith.
- Lamar Stevens is currently a free agent and has received interest from a number of teams, including multiple Eastern Conference rivals of the Cavaliers. Stevens was waived by the San Antonio Spurs after the Cavs moved him there to match salary in the Max Strus sign-and-trade.
- The NBA has approved new restrictions on resting players heading into next season. The rule primarily targets players who have made an All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three seasons. That makes the Cavaliers one of the few teams with three or more players who fit the criteria (the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves lead the league with four): Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen.
- Damian Lillard’s ongoing trade saga added yet another wrinkle recently, as a “mystery” Eastern Conference team is rumored to have joined the bidding. It’s highly unlikely that the Cavaliers are that team, although we did explore what a trade would need to look like for the Cavs to enter the race.
- Caleb Crowley writes on the biggest remaining question for the Cleveland Cavaliers heading into the new season
- Izzy Sy digs into three goals for the Cleveland Cavaliers this year, from playoff performance to in-season accolades.
- Josh Cornelissen examines a trade pitched by Bleacher Report that would add another shooter to the Cavs’ roster. Is it worth making?
- Cornelissen also highlights Cavaliers through the years who made only brief stops on the roster, never actually playing a single minute for the franchise.