2 reasons to be optimistic about Cavs getting #5 pick in 2020 NBA Draft

Reason #1: The defensive element for the Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers should be able to land a high quality defensive player, such as Auburn’s Isaac Okoro, who first comes to mind, really.

Okoro does have a ways to go as a shooter, and only hit 28.6 percent of his three-point attempts in his lone collegiate season, but as the aforementioned Dammarell emphasized, the Cavs player development is one of the NBA’s best, which would likely be able to aid Okoro there.

Okoro is quite the driving threat, too, who would be able to get his share of free throw attempts for the Cavs if they drafted him, and has good secondary playmaking instincts.

Okoro’s defensive feel off-ball jumped out, though, which led to 0.9 blocks and 0.9 steals per outing, and on-ball, he is legitimately a high level defender 1-3 and against plenty of 4’s, as KJG’s Amadou Sow demonstrated.

At 6-foot-6, 225 pounds with impressive lateral quickness and functional strength, he would be a defensive upgrade against starting 3’s over Cedi Osman, too.

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Dammarell was also in the right mentioning Florida State’s Devin Vassell, who is a polished pull-up shooter and spot-up player at the other end, too, and had 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per contest, and he touched on USC big Onyeka Okongwu.

While Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor expressed how the Cavs are not as high on Okongwu as seemingly fans are in a recent tweet, I’d still imagine he’d be a really good pick in his own right by the Cavs, too.

Okongwu had 2.7 blocks and 1.2 steals per game, and his switchability defensively, paired with his rim protection, to go with post polish at the other end, to go with passing feel and flashes of face-up mid-range ability, would be an encouraging selection.

In terms of another defensive player I could feasibly see the Cavs considering would be Florida State’s Patrick Williams, who could function as a hybrid 3/4, and has great team defensive instincts.

At 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, he could also fit in a variety of lineups, in a somewhat similar way to Okoro, too, and Williams’ off-ball rotational shot blocking could definitely aid pieces such as Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr. and Larry Nance Jr.

Additionally, while it would likely lead to Garland being moved to a bench role, Sow stressed how Haliburton, who could be a great fit alongside Sexton as the 1 at 6-foot-5, would likely be a really productive defensive piece for the Cavs.

So keep an eye out for the Iowa State product in that realm for the Cavaliers, too. These suggested potential selections by Cleveland would lead to optimsim from me, in any case, due to the defensive element, first off.

The second reason for optimism for this selection relates to the potential impact on winning/team scope perspective.