INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — One day before the Cavaliers suffered a demoralizing blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the home opener, coach Tyronn Lue and general manager Koby Altman sat with the team’s three oldest players and told them the organization was going young.



Kyle Korver is 37 and in his 16th season, and he has the fourth most 3s in NBA history. He’s played in two Finals here. JR Smith is 33, in his 15th year, and was the Cavs’ starting shooting guard on the 2016 championship team. Channing Frye is 35 and in his 13th season, and he was a role player on that title team. Each player was told he was not going to be in Lue’s rotation for the foreseeable future.



There is some context needed for this, it’s not like Lue walked up to five-time All-Star Kevin Love, who’s still in his prime, tapped him on the shoulder and said you’re out. But it signaled a first step by the organization toward a rebuild for the future as the...