Cavs 2020 NBA Draft: Praise of Isaac Okoro shows how he should impact winning

Isaac Okoro is a player that could really help the Cleveland Cavaliers in the near future.

The Cleveland Cavaliers should be a squad that has firmly has their eyes on Auburn wing Isaac Okoro, who though he’s not much of a shooter at this point, could contribute in a plethora of ways.

Okoro is arguably the best defensive prospect in the 2020 NBA Draft, and for a Cavs squad that is in large part devoid of impact wing/perimeter defenders, that jumps out. So does Okoro’s defensive versatility, which is a major selling point, and Okoro is a heady and particularly active team defender as well.

On the offensive end, while Okoro only hit 28.6 percent of his three-point attempts in his lone collegiate season at Auburn, he is a very effective driver, an explosive finisher and timely cutter. He hit a robust 60.7 percent of his two-point attempts, and had 4.8 free throw attempts per game.

Along with that, Okoro could help pieces such as Darius Garland, Kevin Porter Jr., Collin Sexton and/or Dylan Windler in the secondary playmaking realm, as Okoro is a highly capable passer with good feel and with his driving capabilities, should be able to hit some dump-offs and looks to the corners.

Another key selling point for Okoro, who had 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per outing in 2019-20, are the intangibles.

Okoro is reportedly an especially hard worker, and you see that carry over to the floor in games with him, too, with how he’s such a relentless and engaged defender. He gets on the floor for loose balls, and clearly, is all about winning.

Recent praise of Okoro shows how he should impact winning for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In that realm of affecting winning in the near future, recent praise of Isaac Okoro demonstrates how he should in coming years.

I’m not going to read a ton into Okoro in an interview with Forbes‘ Adam Zagoria emphasizing how he believes he should the first overall pick in the upcoming draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. It seems evident that’s not likely to happen, and per a report from Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, if the Timberwolves don’t end up trading the #1 pick, it’s likely they’ll select guard LaMelo Ball of the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks.

I can’t blame Okoro for suggesting that he should be, though. But Okoro’s agent, Omar Cooper, via Zagoria, saying how “every team in the NBA has reached out for Isaac Okoro,” illustrates how many seemingly believe Okoro could help them further progress toward being a winner. Okoro, for what it’s worth, did also say how going to the New York Knicks, who have the #8 pick, would be (seemingly also) be a “great opportunity.”

Cooper coached Okoro in the Nike EYBL, too, and hit on why Okoro is such an appealing prospect for the Cavaliers, via Zagoria, from my perspective.

"“Isaac can play the one through the four on offense and guard the one through the five on defense,” Cooper said. “And then being a kid who only played for one AAU team, one high school, one college, for his whole life he’s only played locally. So he’s not looking for the best team, the best situation. Even in open gym, he’ll tell me, ‘Just give me whoever you want on my team.’ He doesn’t say, ‘I want to play with this guy, this guy, this guy.’ He says, ‘Coach, just put me wherever you want to put me.’ And he finds a way to win with less.”"

Cooper then mentioning Okoro’s “A” high school average to Zagoria isn’t a disservice to Okoro, either.

From there, ESPN’s Seth Greenberg also shared his praise for Okoro via Zagoria, albeit he wasn’t on the #1 selection train for the Auburn product. But a comparison to the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and Toronto Raptors’ OG Anunoby was encouraging from Greenberg.

Here was more from Greenberg on Okoro, via again, Zagoria.

"“He’s a perfect blend guy that can defend multiple positions,” Greenberg said. “He has a floor game. You can post him up. He’s a very good rebounder for his position. He’s got a hardness about him. He’s a hard driver that can get to the line.“I really like the OG Anunoby comparison because people didn’t know if OG could shoot it, now obviously he’s making shots. He’s a winning player, he’s a competitive winning player.”"

Granted, I take these sort of comments with a grain of salt, and Okoro won’t be guarding 5’s at the NBA level. But with his sturdy 6-foot-6, 225-pound frame, fluidity/lateral quickness and vertical athleticism and instincts in the team sense, Okoro could be quite an impact player for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I’d imagine even early on the wing, too, and he’d seemingly be a long-term replacement for Cedi Osman at the 3, from my viewpoint.

Lastly, Okoro, an Atlanta-area native, is close with Collin Sexton and is also a “gym rat,” similarly to Sexton, per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. So, it’s abundantly clear that Okoro would fit right into the hard-working culture the Cavs are trying to build.

So looking at the draft, the Cavaliers could go a number of directions it seems, and wing prospects such as Florida State’s Devin Vassell and Deni Avdija of the I-BSL’s Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv realistically come to mind along with Okoro. USC big Onyeka Okongwu does, too, if he’s there, and I’d be on-board with any of those players.

As long as Cleveland steers clear of Dayton big Obi Toppin, who is reportedly in play for them, but has major defensive question marks, I’ll be satisfied.

Cleveland could reportedly use the #5 pick as “bait” for a trade as well, though. But frankly, I’d firmly expect the Cavaliers to eventually make that selection, and Okoro should be a prospect, if available there, that the Wine and Gold should strongly consider selecting in the 2020 NBA Draft.

To further drive it home, he should be able to impact winning in the near future, as this praise of Okoro above shows.

We’ll ultimately see what transpires in the draft, which is set for Nov. 18.