Three years without making the playoffs, when 10 of 15 teams in each conference advance to the postseason, is enough. If the Cavaliers flounder again this season, general manager Koby Altman should be fired.
The Cavs have been directionless since LeBron James left after the 2018 season to join the Los Angeles Lakers. Ranking the mistakes Altman has made would be a difficult task. Signing Kevin Love to a ridiculous five-year contract would be right at the top, but don’t forget giving up on guard Kevin Porter too quickly.
The Cavs traded Porter to the Houston Rockets for a heavily protected second-round pick that would only kick in if it was one of the last five picks of the draft. They might as well have asked for a basketball pump.
Spending back-to-back first-round picks on 6-foot-1 guards Collin Sexton and Darius Garland hasn’t worked, either.
Altman knows he is on the hot seat, and with training camp opening on Sept. 27 at Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence, one gets the feeling he is desperate enough to overpay the Philadelphia 76ers for pouty 6-foot-9 guard Ben Simmons.
Simmons, the first pick of the 2016 draft, is blamed for Philadelphia being knocked out of the playoffs last season by the Atlanta Hawks. He has let anyone willing to listen know that he won’t report to the 76ers’ training camp.
Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey reportedly wants at least four future first-round draft picks plus an All-Star caliber player for Simmons.
The Cavaliers are determined to hold onto Garland and 2021 draft pick Evan Mobley.
Trading Sexton would be no great loss, even though he led the Cavaliers in scoring last year at 24.3 points per game, because the Cavaliers do not intend to sign him to a max contract extension after the upcoming season. But it would take Sexton, possibly Isaac Okoro and three first-round picks for Simmons.
If Simmons is unhappy in Philadelphia, who thinks he would be happy in Cleveland? And if such a trade doesn’t make the Cavs a playoff team, the next general manager would be the one stuck without three first-round picks out of the next five years (teams cannot trade first-round picks in consecutive years).
There is another reason not to get into the Ben Simmons bidding war. His contract is even more ridiculous than the one Altman gifted Love — $33 million in 2021-22, $35.45 million in 2022-23, $37.9 million in 2023-23 and $40.34 million in 2024-25.
The 76ers can’t unload Simmons now. If Altman trades for him out of desperation to save his own job and Simmons pulls the same act here, the Cavs will be stuck with him just as they’re stuck with Love now.
• The product on the floor isn’t always entertaining, so the Cavaliers compensate fans with some slick promotions for games at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The home opener is Oct. 22 against the Charlotte Hornets. All fans attending will receive an opening night Cavs T-shirt with the slogan “Let ‘em Know” printed on the front.
Three bobblehead nights are scheduled. The first is Machine Gun Kelly, set for a Jan. 31 game with the New Orleans Pelicans. Kelly, I am told, performs rap music. He is a Northeast Ohio native. He is wearing a Cavs Statement jersey on the bobblehead.
Evan Mobley bobblehead night is March 14, when the Cavs take on the Los Angeles Clippers. Jarrett Allen bobblehead night is March 30 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse when the Cavs meet the Dallas Mavericks.
The 2022 NBA All-Star Game will be played at the FieldHouse on Feb. 20. As a prelude to that, all fans attending the Feb. 9 game with the San Antonio Spurs will receive a miniature All-Star desk sign.
I didn’t know that
… until I read my Snapple bottle cap
The bee hummingbird weighs less than a penny. … The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters. … No two lip impressions are the same. … Every ton of recycled paper saves about 17 trees. … Elephants are afraid of bees. … Strawberries taste sweeter at room temperature.
