LeBron James Snub Discussed by Cavs' Koby Altman, Exec Says 'Teams Got Better to Chase Us'

The Cleveland Cavaliers were on LeBron James' shortlist in free agency this year, but in the end, the four-time MVP decided chose against a third stint with his old team and joined the Philadelphia 76ers.

However, the Cavs are confident despite James heading elsewhere, per comments by team president Koby Altman, who spoke with reporters at a press conference Friday (h/t Joe Reedy of the Associated Press).

"I'd be more worried if I was worried about talent, our process or some of the more day-to-day things," Altman said. "I think a lot of teams got better to chase us. When you're a final four team, teams need to improve to get to that level. And we're on that level. We want more."

The 52-win Cavaliers did finish as a top-four team, making the Eastern Conference Finals after a pair of seven-game playoff series wins against the No. 5 seed Toronto Raptors and No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons. However, the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks swept the Cavs in four games in the East Finals.

Credit to the Cavs, of course, for getting as far as they've gone in the playoffs without James on the roster since 1992. They have a strong core of talent in place led by Donovan Mitchell, who signed a four-year extension. James Harden signed a three-year extension, and Peyton Watson is now aboard via trade from the Denver Nuggets. Big men Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are back in town.

"You go through the list and zoom out and say, 'OK, was this offseason a success? Were we able to get better? Did we look at the future? Did we get more financial flexibility, more sustainability with the roster?' All of those things lead me to say this was a really good offseason in spite of that one decision," Altman said.

One can argue, though, that the Cavs were still far away from the championship picture given how poorly the Eastern Conference Finals went. Although head coach Kenny Atkinson said the Cavs were "analytically" winning the series 2-1 after Game 3, ultimately, Cleveland fell 4-0 and got outscored by 77 points.

Still, the Cavs are one of the better Eastern Conference teams on paper, and Altman is confident in his team despite James picking Philly.

"We can't be reliant on one outcome. I think we have too much of a good thing going in terms of our infrastructure, our foundation to worry about one outcome," Altman said at a news conference Friday before the Cavaliers begin training camp next week. "I'm not downplaying the enormity and magnitude of the decision. I just think the way we're built as an organization is we have a great foundation and a great sort of ecosystem in terms of talent, coaching staff, our performance staff and we're built for a sustainable run here regardless of one outcome."

Cleveland will visit James and the 76ers to begin the season in Philadelphia on Oct. 22.