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The\u00a0<\/span>Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>\u00a0were among the handful of teams routinely linked with Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>superstar\u00a0<\/span>Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> even before Cleveland was swept out of the Eastern Conference\u00a0<\/span>Finals<\/span><\/a>\u00a0by the New York Knicks.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, it’s believed<\/a> the Bucks would want Cleveland big man Evan Mobley<\/a> included in any package that would involve sending Antetokounmpo to the Cavaliers. While speaking with reporters at his end-of-season news conference on Friday, Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman seemed to say plenty about the Mobley-for-Antetokounmpo rumors.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m not going to speculate on any players outside these walls,” Altman explained, per Joe Vardon<\/a> of The Athletic. “All I can tell you is, since Evan\u2019s been here, we\u2019ve had the third-best record in the league for five years. Now, we don\u2019t have a championship to show for that yet, right? Boston and Denver, the other two ahead of us, they have a championship to show for that, but all Evan has done is impact winning. He\u2019s been remarkable for us in terms of our ascent the last five years. He\u2019s a huge part of what we do.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Almost immediately after the Cavaliers were swept by the Knicks, it was reported<\/a> that February acquisition James Harden<\/a> is expected to opt out of his current contract and receive a new multi-year deal from Cleveland. Additionally, Cavaliers star\u00a0<\/span>Donovan Mitchell<\/a> will become extension-eligible during the offseason.<\/p>\n “All I could tell you is Donovan has been steadfast in how much he loves it here,” Altman said. “And so there hasn\u2019t been any question of will he be here and does he want to be here.”\u00a0<\/p>\n In short, it sounds like Altman is ready to run it back with the trio of Mobley, Mitchell and Harden.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I always say two things can be true \u2014 we hated the way it ended, we were disappointed with the way it ended. I think the reason for that is we have higher expectations,” Altman added during his comments. “We\u2019ve built this thing to a level of standards of excellence, and we know we could be better. But the other thing that could be true is we could be proud of what we\u2019ve accomplished here and be proud of what we\u2019ve built \u2014 a very, very strong foundation. We believe in the culture that we built. We believe in the players that we have in house. We have incredible ownership with great resources that helps us achieve in every aspect of this really difficult game that we\u2019re in.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Vardon teased that Altman could soon chat with LeBron James<\/a>\u00a0if James is truly interested in leaving<\/span> the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>\u00a0to finish his career with the Cavaliers. James is\u00a0<\/span>set<\/a> to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and could be viewed as a missing piece for a team that will be coming off its first conference finals appearance since he guided\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Cleveland<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0to the 2018 NBA Finals.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nEvan Mobley to remain a “huge part” of the Cavaliers?<\/h2>\n
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Why Koby Altman isn’t blowing it up or trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/h2>\n
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