The Cleveland Cavaliers are promoting assistant general manager Mike Gansey to the GM title in the wake of Koby Altman’s recent ascension to president of basketball operations, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
Gansey’s climb completes a remarkable rise in the Cavaliers’ front office: a Cleveland high school player hired an intern in basketball operations in 2011 who now moves into the GM role under Altman.
Gansey, 39, has played a significant part in the franchise’s renaissance, including the drafting of lottery picks Darius Garland and Evan Mobley and trades that landed Cleveland All-Star center Jarrett Allen and guard Caris LeVert.
Gansey played college basketball for St. Bonaventure and West Virginia after his high school career at Olmstead Falls, a Cleveland suburb.
A member of WVU’s Sports Hall of Fame, Gansey played four seasons of professional basketball in Europe and the D League before retiring in 2011 and joining the Cavaliers as an intern. He moved up quickly, becoming the G League Executive of the Year in 2018 as GM of the Cavaliers’ affiliate in Canton, Ohio.