Koby Altman

On January 12th, Koby Altman was named the President of Basketball Operations after reaching an agreement on a new long-term contract extension.

Altman was previously named the 11th general manager in Cleveland Cavaliers history on July 24, 2017. As the GM, he managed and oversaw all aspects of scouting, personnel, player acquisitions and transactions, and all team operations. He also oversaw the Cavaliers’ exclusive NBA G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge. With community involvement being integral to Altman’s focus with the team, he also guides the team’s player appearance committee in partnership with the business side of the Cavs organization.

In Altman’s first year as general manager in 2017-18, the Cavaliers reached their fifth NBA Finals and Eastern Conference championship with a 50-32 (.610) record. Altman remained busy after Cleveland’s NBA Finals run, choosing eventual 2019 All-Rookie Team member and 2020 NBA Rising Star selection Collin Sexton with the eighth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and signing five-time NBA All-Star Kevin Love to a multi-year contract extension.

Prior to the 2019-20 season, Altman acquired three first-round draft picks, including Darius Garland, who would become the only NBA rookie to tally at least 700 points, 225 assists and 100 three-pointers that season. Additionally, Altman appointed J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach of the Cavaliers in February 2020. Under Bickerstaff, the Cavs posted a 5-6 (.455) record, which included consecutive season series sweeps over the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs. The Cavs also recorded three wins against above .500 teams (Miami, Philadelphia and Denver) while averaging 111.4 points and 26.4 assists (eighth-best in NBA) and holding the fifth-highest field goal percentage in the NBA after the 2020 All-Star break (.480).

Altman continued to add pieces to compliment the team’s mix of young players and established veterans by choosing arguably the best defender in the 2020 NBA Draft in Isaac Okoro, who went on to earn NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors in 2020-21 while becoming just the third rookie in Cavaliers history to record 500 points, 50 threes, 50 steals and 20 blocks in a single season (LeBron James, Kyrie Irving). Despite losing key players to injuries in 2020-21, Cleveland opened the season with a 7-4 record and had three separate win streaks of three games or more. Sexton finished as a Top 20 scorer in the league at over 24 points per game, while Garland increased his numbers across the board and received three votes for the league’s Most Improved Player award this past season.

Most recently, the Cavaliers selected 2020-21 Pac-12 Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in USC’s Evan Mobley, who was just the second player from a major conference to win all three awards in a single season (Kentucky’s Anthony Davis, 2011-12). Cleveland will head into the upcoming season with the addition of 2018 NBA All-Rookie First Team selection Lauri Markkanen and veteran NBA guard Ricky Rubio. Altman also re-signed Jarrett Allen, who ranked in the Top 10 in field goal percentage and blocks last season and returns to the team after averaging career highs in points, rebounds and assists.

Prior to being named GM, Altman had been a part of the Cavaliers’ basketball staff for five years, including being promoted to assistant general manager in September 2016. As a member of Cleveland’s front office, Altman has been an integral part of a team that reached four straight NBA Finals (2015-2018) and won an NBA Championship in 2016.

Altman originally joined the Cavaliers as pro personnel manager in August 2012 and was promoted to director of pro player personnel in September 2013. In that role, Altman was tasked with talent evaluation of athletes across all levels of basketball, both domestically and abroad. In addition, Altman coordinated the Cavs’ domestic professional scouting efforts and assisted in all aspects the teams basketball operations.

The 38-year-old has extensive experience with the USA Basketball program. In the summer of 2010, he served as the Team Manager for USA Basketball’s Under-17 team at the inaugural FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Hamburg, Germany. That 17-and-under squad won the first gold medal to ever be awarded for that age group and featured three players selected among the top 10 in the 2012 NBA Draft. In 2009, he assisted Team USA’s 19-and-under team in the FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand. That squad also won the gold, its first in that age group since 1991.

Prior to joining the Cavaliers, Altman served as an assistant coach at The Ivy League’s Columbia University for two seasons, where he also led Columbia’s developmental basketball program. He spent the 2009-10 season at Southern Illinois as a graduate assistant after earning his master’s degree in sport management at the University of Massachusetts. While earning his degree at UMASS, he coached at nearby Amherst College for two seasons and helped guide the team to a 48-11 record.

Altman, a Brooklyn, New York native, played collegiately at Middlebury College, where he was a three-year starter at point guard and recently named to the college’s Board of Trustees. Altman is also on the National Board of Directors for the Posse Foundation, which identifies, recruits and trains individuals with extraordinary leadership potential, providing full-tuition leadership scholarships from Posse’s partner colleges and universities. In August 2020, Altman along with Bickerstaff and head coaches and front office executives from Cleveland’s three major professional sports teams - the Cavaliers, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Indians- formed the Cleveland Sports Alliance to develop a sustainable and direct strategy to address social injustice facing the city of Cleveland and all Northeast Ohio communities. The alliance also focuses on improving the relationship between law enforcement and its citizens, encouraging nonpartisan voting activities and increasing the opportunities for quality education for everyone.