Cleveland Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman had a message for Bobby Marks after ESPN ranked the Cavaliers dead last in future power rankings for the next three seasons.
Marks asked Altman if he knew where the team ranked, and the Cavs executive shook it off, accepting Marks’ apology for doubting the team.
“Oh, we know,” Altman said. “I didn’t know it was the next three years. I thought it was just this year.”
Altman, who is responsible for drafting Evan Mobley with the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, has turned the Cavaliers into a playoff contender this season.
“I thought it was just this year,” Altman said. “So actually, I’m learning something.”
After finishing outside of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference in the 2020-21 season, the Cavs have had a serious turnaround in the 2021-22 campaign.
Led by Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland, the Cavaliers are currently the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland has already won 28 games this season, and it has the makeup of a playoff team.
The most impressive part is that the Cavs have done this despite losing last season’s leading scorer, Collin Sexton, to a torn meniscus earlier in the 2021-22 season.
Altman built a very strong roster heading into this season, and Garland and Allen are both in the midst of the best seasons of their respective careers.
While ESPN may have doubted the Cavs, it appears that the team’s future is much brighter now than it looked prior to this season.
The Cavs will look to build on their strong start to the 2021-22 campaign when they host the New York Knicks on Monday night.
