Isaac Okoro is set to make his regular season debut on Wednesday for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Isaac Okoro had a very good preseason showing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, I believe. Okoro, in three of Cleveland’s four games, really, played quality defense, his calling card, I thought played at a nice pace and finished well.
Okoro, while I completely acknowledge that it was only preseason action, did show spot-up ability, too. Okoro hit only 28.6 percent of his three-point shot attempts in his lone collegiate season at Auburn, which was far from stellar.
Albeit the youngster hitting 45.5 percent of his three-point shot attempts, typically via spot-ups, in preseason was a big positive. Overall, Okoro showed real two-way promise for Cleveland, and had 11.3 points, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per outing.
To me, even while Cedi Osman, who had 21.0 points per outing in two games, and hit 66.7 percent from deep, I still would expect that Okoro pretty early on in this upcoming season will be Cleveland’s starting 3. After all, the Cavs need his defensive, but also all-around play; Okoro will end up showing he’s Cleveland’s long-term starting 3, anyhow.
Okoro could maybe end up starting at the 3 from the jump, albeit either way, Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff‘s recent message to the rook coming into the regular season for him was on the money.
Here was what J.B. said to the rook, after prefacing that he talked to the group in general, and each individual player on Monday, though, per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.
"“On Monday afternoon, two days before the regular season opener, Bickerstaff delivered a message to the team about who they need to be. He also spoke to each player individually, laying out expectations.The messsage to Okoro was simple: Be yourself.The Cavs expect him to be great on the defensive end, taking the challenge against some of the league’s best scorers, no matter the position. On offense, they want him to take what’s available. If it’s an outside shot, he needs to hoist with confidence, no hesitation. If there’s a driving lane, then attack, get into the paint and finish or setup teammates. Before anything else, the Cavs expect him to be a great teammate.”"
That message from Bickerstaff to Okoro was perfect for the rook and the overall Cavs squad.
It was refreshing to find out that Bickerstaff told Okoro to simply “Be yourself.” When he’s out there, Okoro’s not going to be necessarily be a key on-ball scoring threat a ton of the time.
Albeit he’ll be an intelligent cutter, I think, while turnovers will come some, he still will aid Cleveland in the secondary playmaking/ball movement sense, and Okoro will show he’s a more than capable finisher via on/off-ball ways.
He showcased his ability to finish through contact/initiate it in both settled offense and in transition in preseason, and on the defensive end, as was seemingly hit on, he made his presence felt.
The ball pressure he applied stood out to me, and with his versatility on that end, he should have an impact on most occasions on-ball. And off-ball, for a 19-year-old, Okoro is such a heady rotator/helper on to drivers/into passing lanes.
To drive the point home, though, Bickerstaff’s message to Okoro was perfect. It got the point across and was simple, as Fedor expressed, sure, but it was effective. Okoro doesn’t need to try to overextend and force things to create, if you will, and if he just shoots the ball with confidence, that will help him in his growth long-term in that way off-the-catch.
Plus, if he works without the ball well, it will lead to quality offense for himself following deliveries from Darius Garland, Kevin Love, Larry Nance Jr., Collin Sexton and/or Dylan Windler, in settled/transition situations.
If Okoro just lets the opportunities come to him, and keeps working hard, of which he’s been doing, per Fedor, I believe he’ll show he’s going to be a core piece in no time. Moreover, this sort of message to me showcases that the Cleveland Cavaliers have the right person for their head coaching role in Bickerstaff.
And as Andre Drummond emphasized to Cavs general manager Koby Altman recently, via Fedor, Okoro was a big-time pick that can end up impacting winning early on/in the near future.