Koby Altman says Cavs wanted new voice from coach, didn't want to get complacent

INDEPENDENCE — Koby Altman, the Cavaliers' president of basketball operations, said the team wanted a fresh set of eyes and a new voice from the coach. He spoke glowingly about J.B. Bickerstaff, whom he fired Thursday. "He was an incredible partner," Altman said. "We love him as a human being. This was a tremendously difficult decision. There's not one singular thing J.B. did wrong. "(I'm) not going to go into any sort of shortcomings or negatives about J.B. It's not something that he did specifically. I think for us with this group (we want to find) someone with a new approach, a different voice and a fresh set of eyes to help us move forward." Altman didn't want to be complacent and bring back the coach who had guided the Cavs to the Eastern Conference semifinals. Altman labeled the 2023-24 season as "highly successful," even though Cleveland couldn't get past the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the second round. When asked about his expectations for the just-completed season, Altman said he wanted the Cavs to be "highly competitive" in the playoffs. "I think we were," he said. "Obviously we weren't whole. I'm not going to make excuses. I think a lot of teams are going through what we went through, so we can't just say this is a Cavaliers thing. In terms of the injuries, look, it's hard to say this season wasn't a success when you look at our first conference semifinals since 2018, and so we were disappointed with how it ended." Then why did he fire his coach? Altman said the franchise has an urgency to win and just couldn't stand pat with Bickerstaff, even though he compiled a 170-159 record in the regular season (.517) and 6-11 mark in the postseason (.353) in five seasons. Bickerstaff is fifth on Cleveland's all-time win list and sixth in winning percentage. Altman said he believes the Cavs are headed in the right direction. "We're setting ourselves up in the future for a real run," he said. He said he has no plans to break up the core of the team. He intends to keep point guard Darius Garland and center Jarrett Allen, despite rumors to the contrary. "I don't see the need to make sweeping changes," Altman said. "I don't see why we should (break it up)." He noted the Cavs have won 99 games in the last two regular seasons. "It's hard to say this doesn't work," Altman said. He said he isn't permitted to talk to All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell until July 1. The Cavs are expected to offer him a four-year, $208 million contract extension. If he turns it down, Cleveland will likely trade him. Altman, though, said after his exit interview with Mitchell, he believes he wants to stay. "He was talking about the future and how excited he was about the team, the organization," Altman said. "This is a player that has had two of the best years of his career here. "I think has a lot of trust in what we're doing and understands that our goal is to win a championship. He says he's happy here, he likes it here. He's always been very genuine." Altman also insisted Mitchell had no input in Bickerstaff's firing. While talking about Allen, who missed the Boston series, Altman let it slip that the center had a broken rib. The team had announced the injury as "bruised ribs." Altman said it's a matter of semantics. "He tried to give it a go (in the playoffs)," he said. Altman said he'd decompress this weekend and start working on the coaching search Tuesday. "It's a massive undertaking," Altman said. "We're going to take the weekend and come back and really map it out. We haven't had a search for five years. We've had real continuity here. "This is a very highly specific job requirement. In terms of the questions we're going to ask, we're going to be very, very specific to the talent level, very specific to how we can achieve even more than we have and, obviously, some characteristics that we talk about from a cultural standpoint." Contact Bob Finnan at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on X.