INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — Koby Altman realizes expectations for the Cleveland Cavaliers going into next season will be much different.
Such is life for a franchise that was the top seed in the Eastern Conference but had their postseason run end in disappointment, losing to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Altman, the Cavaliers president of basketball operations, knows the most important goals during the offseason are trying to make sure the roster is mentally and physically tougher to handle being looked at as one of the top teams in the league when training camp begins in late September.
“I think we can all agree that coming into the season no one predicted us to be (the) No. 1 seed. I don’t think anyone had 64 wins. Because we were so good we recreated the expectation of finals. I think everyone in here saw potential champions, which is a new space for us,” Altman said. “We recreated the expectation and now we have to live with that. I think it’s a space we want to live in and take that into the playoffs next year, knowing we’re going to have to change that narrative, knowing that we have get over the hump.”
The Cavaliers have had steady improvement the last four seasons as they rebuilt the roster after four straight trips to the NBA Finals (2015-18) and a 2016 NBA title during LeBron James' second stint.
Altman has built a solid core group with Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen. The group has played together for three seasons and has proven it can be formidable in the regular season. They had a 16-win improvement in NBA Coach of the Year Kenny Atkinson's first season and were the East's top seed for the first time in nine years.
The next step though is advancing beyond the conference semifinals.
Altman pointed to Indiana, Denver, Boston and Oklahoma City as teams that had to go through growing pains with their core players before achieving success.
When it comes to what was the determining factor in the Indiana series, Altman pointed to the end of Game 2, which the Pacers won 120-119 on Tyrese Haliburton's 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining. Haliburton missed the second free throw with Indiana trailing by two points, but got the offensive rebound before hitting his winning shot.
“That one foul line backout in Game 2, that’s a level of focus and winning that we have to get to. And it’s gonna eat at us, it’s going to haunt us,” Altman said.
Reserve guard Ty Jerome is due to become an unrestricted free agent, but Altman said there is interest in re-signing him. The Cavaliers are above both aprons of the salary cap, meaning that trying to find more depth for the bench could be difficult, but ownership has not given Altman any restrictions by going into the luxury tax.
While Mitchell attracts plenty of attention and headlines, the Cavaliers' fortunes largely depend on Mobley taking another big step. Mobley was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year and had a breakout season after averaging 18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and being selected to the NBA All-Star Game for the first time.
Mobley also had nine games this season with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
“We’re going to go as a franchise as Evan is going to go. And we’ve had that conversation with Evan," Altman said. "In the playoffs, we need more. We need more than 13 field-goal attempts per game — that’s new for Evan. There’s another jump. And so to that point, Kenny’s going to be able to implement his offseason program, which we’re very excited about. And we’re going to see some internal growth there, and we think we have one of the best big men in the game in Evan Mobley.”
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Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson calls out from the bench in the first half of Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley, right, shoots as Indiana Pacers center Thomas Bryant defends during the second half in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
FILE - Koby Altman, the president of basketball operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers, answers a question at a news conference in Independence, Ohio, May 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.
Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
The latest:
Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, says a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump will make its premiere later this month, posting a trailer on X.
As the Trumps prepared to return to the White House last year, Amazon Prime Video announced a year ago that it had obtained exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release directed by Brett Ratner.
Melania Trump also released a self-titled memoir in late 2024.
Some artists have canceled scheduled Kennedy Center performances after a newly installed board voted to add President Donald Trump’s to the facility, prompting Grenell to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum says that she has asked her foreign affairs secretary to reach out directly to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio or Trump regarding comments by the American leader that the U.S. cold begin ground attacks against drug cartels.
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News aired Thursday night, Trump said, “We’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by water and we are going to start now hitting land, with regard to the cartels. The cartels are running Mexico. It’s very sad to watch.”
As she has on previous occasions, Sheinbaum downplayed the remarks, saying “it is part of his way of communicating.” She said she asked her Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente to strengthen coordination with the U.S.
Sheinbaum has repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s offer to send U.S. troops after Mexican drug cartels. She emphasizes that there will be no violation of Mexico’s sovereignty, but the two governments will continue to collaborate closely.
Analysts do not see a U.S. incursion in Mexico as a real possibility, in part because Sheinbaum’s administration has been doing nearly everything Trump has asked and Mexico is a critical trade partner.
Trump says he wants to secure $100 billion to remake Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, a lofty goal going into a 2:30 meeting on Friday with executives from leading oil companies. His plan rides on oil producers being comfortable in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
The president has said that the U.S. will control distribution worldwide of Venezuela’s oil and will share some of the proceeds with the country’s population from accounts that it controls.
“At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is banking on the idea that he can tap more of Venezuela’s petroleum reserves to keep oil prices and gasoline costs low.
At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.
He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.
Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.
The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.
Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs.
The Trump administration has cited concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families and their children. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York states filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit asks the courts to order the administration to release the funds. The attorneys general have called the funding freeze an unconstitutional abuse of power.
Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.
Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”
The government has shut down the internet and is blocking international calls. State media has labeled the demonstrators as “terrorists.”
The protests began over Iran’s struggling economy and have become a significant challenge to the government. Violence has killed at least 50 people, and more than 2,270 have been detained.
Trump questions why a president’s party often loses in midterm elections and suggests voters “want, maybe a check or something”
Trump suggested voters want to check a president’s power and that’s why they often deliver wins for an opposing party in midterm elections, which he’s facing this year.
“There’s something down, deep psychologically with the voters that they want, maybe a check or something. I don’t know what it is, exactly,” he said.
He said that one would expect that after winning an election and having “a great, successful presidency, it would be an automatic win, but it’s never been a win.”
Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.
December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.
The figures will be closely watched on Wall Street and in Washington because they will be the first clean readings on the labor market in three months. The government didn’t issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and November’s data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12.
FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
