As the Cleveland Cavaliers have been predicted as favorites coming out of the Eastern Conference, the team looks to prove some of the claims within the basketball world’s claims, especially to bounce back after a disappointing exit in the NBA Playoffs. With rumors surrounding the Cavs in what other moves they will make, the main core still remains, as general manager Koby Altman spoke more about how he envisions the team.

Cleveland’s media day was on Tuesday, with personnel and players speaking to the media about the season ahead as Altman expressed what he is most “excited” to see from the team. He would mention that the internal growth has been a fun development to watch and mentions the question of getting over the hump.

“I’ve been almost more excited about our internal growth more than what we’ve done as a front office, if that makes sense,” Altman said. “And so we’re going to continue to focus on this group. You know, look, this group’s had enormous success to your point. And how do we get over that hump? It’s going to come from those internal pieces that continue to grow.”

Cavs’ Kenny Atkinson on not “reinventing” the team

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson reacts in the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Rocket Arena.

David Richard-Imagn Images

One of the reasons why the Cavs are predicted to win the Eastern Conference this upcoming season could be due to the amount of significant injuries happening to key players like Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton. Cleveland’s core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and others is still around to bring immense domination to the conference.

Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson also spoke on Tuesday’s media day and emphasized how the team is “not reinventing” itself, due to the success from last season.

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“I will make this statement, we’re not reinventing this thing,” Atkinson said. “Because I think we think we really, really created an identity, not only, you know, an on-court identity, but how we practice, how we develop all of it. So we’re going to double down on that, and then we do need to make some tweaks to how we play.”

At any rate, Cleveland is looking to further improve after finishing with a 64-18 record, which put them first in the East, but the team would be eliminated by the Pacers in the semifinals of the playoffs in five games. The Cavs open the season on Oct. 22 against the New York Knicks.