New Cavaliers GM Koby Altman met with the media for the first time yesterday, and he and Owner Dan Gilbert together attempted to send the message that "no matter what you've heard, everything is fine with the Cavs," according to Joe Vardon of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. Gilbert said, "This is our fourth general manager in our ownership stint and I've never felt as good as I do." Atlman added, "It's unfortunate sort of the narrative that's going on right now. In terms of where we're at. This thing is not broken. We are a very successful organization and we are going to continue to drive at that success." Gilbert said he and former Cavs GM David Griffin "decided it didn't feel right moving forward," so the sides parted ways. Gilbert added Griffin's departure "had nothing to do with money." Gilbert: "Philosophically and culturally we had different views of how things were going to go forward." Gilbert before yesterday had "never spoken publicly about Griffin's departure." Vardon notes the Cavs' payroll for next season is a league-high $141.5M and their luxury-tax bill is a projected $76M (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 7/27). In Akron, Marla Ridenour writes the press conference tried to "calm the perception that the Cavs are in crisis" amid LeBron James' pending free agency in '18 and the report of a possible Kyrie Irving trade. Ridenour: "But I can’t buy the sales pitch that everything is fine. From the outside, the Cavs look like a train wreck" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 7/27).
THE HERE & NOW: ESPN's Michael Smith said for now, the Cavs "still have" James, Irving and F Kevin Love. Smith: "You're still penciling them in for the Eastern Conference Finals, if not a return trip to the Finals. So how bad is it really? It's not as bad as the conversations would suggest it is." However, ESPN's Jemele Hill said "these things start to wear sometimes on organizations" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 7/26). ESPN's Pablo Torre said of Gilbert's press conference, "I'm giving him a B because he did something ... a lot of owners wouldn't do. Jim Dolan, we've been waiting for him in New York to come in front of us and take questions. At the very least, Dan Gilbert took questions" ("First Take," ESPN, 7/27).
