3 potential Cavs duos to watch with 2020 draft prospect Isaac Okoro

Potential Cavs-Okoro two-man game #1: With Darius Garland

An Okoro-Darius Garland duo would of course be one to watch for the Cleveland Cavaliers, if they were to select Okoro in the 2020 NBA Draft. Factoring in how Okoro could fit in a number of different lineups, he and Garland would seem to mesh so well together for considerable stretches, even.

Garland seemingly being fully ready to go and being able to work on his game extensively should aid him as a playmaker/scoring threat more so next season, too, and opening up some catch-and-shoot looks in-rhythm in the corner could help out Okoro.

Now, Okoro only hit 28.6 percent of his three-point attempts at Auburn. But him at least placing in the 56th percentile on spot-ups, per Synergy, leads me to believe he could progress as a catch-and-shoot threat, and Garland should be able to hit him in that realm.

Okoro should be able to get cutting dishes from Garland, too, though, and I’d think more from him than others, even.

Additionally, however, lob feeds from DG to Isaac Okoro could definitely be something to look out for in both settled offense and in the open floor as well. That’s with Okoro’s timing/athleticism to go get those and with Garland improving with his lob proficiency as 2019-20 progressed.

On occasion, I could foresee Okoro being a productive screener in the PnR with Garland, too, as that could result in him creating more pull-up room for DG.

As a counter to that, Garland could get some pocket passes in to Okoro for drives and/or occasionally get a pass in over-the-top to Okoro if he’s cross-matched on to a favorable post matchup against a smaller defender. He proved to be very effective inside in those instances at Auburn and could for the Cavs in a similar fashion, and more so following Garland dishes.

As far as Okoro initiating for Garland, we’d probably see perimeter feeds to Garland from him often, sure.

But while we didn’t see a ton last season, I could very well foresee Okoro could be a key passer to Garland after Garland gets looks via off-screen situations, and/or in other ways from movement. Perhaps that could result in relocation feeds to DG for quick-hitting mid-range attempts, too.

And maybe in some instances, Garland could get the ball to Okoro as a roller, and then get a shot back after relocating to the opposite corner and getting a quality shot from Okoro getting it to him after helpers collapse.

Moreover, in the open floor, with the threat he poses as a driver/slasher, Okoro could create quality opportunities for Garland via subtle drop-offs in secondary transition, where he could right into shots, or look to get his floater game. Garland could feasibly look for interior feeds to a cutter Okoro even from there, too.

Anyway, while Okoro would mesh with a variety of players I believe on the Cavaliers, the three highlighted here via two-man games would be ones I’d expect to have especially noteworthy rapport with the Auburn product.

We’ll ultimately see on Nov. 18 if Okoro ends up with the Cavs via the 2020 NBA Draft, which will be conducted virtually due to novel coronavirus concerns/social distancing measures.