Cavs: Initiating contact more is key for Isaac Okoro in 2nd half

It’s apparent that Isaac Okoro needs to further progress offensively in coming years for the Cleveland Cavaliers; I’ve never suggested he does not. In 33.2 minutes per outing, he’s averaged 8.1 points and per-36 minutes, has averaged 8.7 points.

Coming into the season, it was evident that Okoro’s shooting was going to be a question mark, as evidenced by him having hit only 28.6 percent of his three-point attempts per outing in his lone collegiate season at Auburn. Okoro, who is a strong driver when he’s committed, and is a more than capable finisher, did hit 60.7 percent of his two-point attempts then, though.

In his rookie campaign thus far with Cleveland, he’s shown flashes as a driver, but has been inconsistent in that regard, and there’s been turnovers at times, often coming off of passes it seems.

The inconsistency has been partly due to him needing to improve his handle, sure, and also seemingly because Okoro is not a pull-up threat at this point.

It’s crucial for his progression in the near future for him to work on those two things in the offseason extensively leading into his second season. And with him reportedly being an extremely hard worker, I’d expect that to be the case.

All things considered, though, I firmly believe in the second half of the season, one thing can pay dividends for Okoro in the more immediate realm. That’s for him to look to initiate contact more frequently.

Initiating contact more is key for Okoro in the second half for the Cavs.

Okoro has hit 59.0 percent of his shot attempts from the restricted area, per NBA.com’s shooting data, which for a rookie wing, has been alright. But admittedly, he’s had his ups and downs as a driver/finisher.

Too often of late, from my perspective, though, Okoro when he’s gone to the basket, or looked to connect off cuts, has seemingly avoided contact and looked to finish more so with touch. Granted, the dude does have the requisite body control to finish via up-and-unders, and with touch when he’s decisive.

That said, in the second half of his rookie season, I believe Okoro would have more consistency as a finisher/driver if he sought out/initiated contact more.

He did so earlier on it appeared in the season after he was back from a foot sprain, and I’d imagine with him being a sturdy 225 pounds, and being more than capable of finishing with power near the rim, that could pay off for him in the second half.

Lately, it’s been encouraging that Okoro has shown more decisiveness in shooting the ball on catch-and-shoots from three-point range, of which he’s hit 34.3 percent from deep in his past 10 games, but he’s seemed unsure of himself on drives.

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And again, while the handle does need to improve, and establishing a pull-up game would help looking at next season/the near future, the rest of this season, he needs to take advantage more when defenders are parallel to him/on their heels.

If Okoro looks to seek out contact from rotators as well, when they are more so deeper in the paint, to avoid offensive fouls, I’d think it could enable him to get more free throws more consistently game-to-game.

I haven’t seen nearly enough of that from him for stretches of games, frankly, but with his strength, and above-the-rim capabilities, it’s something he’s more than capable of turning around. Albeit for a rookie following the quickest offseason turnaround in league history, that type of thing is expected for a perimeter player.

Perhaps if Darius Garland/Collin Sexton/Larry Nance Jr. and the Cavaliers can create some occasional low-post feeds for him, he could use drop steps and/or quick, sudden pump fakes to get quality looks inside with his frame, for instance.

I could envision Okoro having some success as a roller as well, here and there, where he could get solid driving opportunities, and/or free throw chances by getting downhill more game-to-game and having more assertiveness by seeking out contact/putting pressure on defenders. That’s instead of being reactionary/looking to seemingly avoid contact with the intention to keep defenders off-balance.

Plus, as a counter as the year progresses, he could feed the likes of Kevin Love, when he’s back, Cedi Osman/Taurean Prince, though they could reportedly be available via trade in the right deal, Dylan Windler and/or Collin Sexton via kickouts, too.

Moreover, if Okoro looks to initiate contact more regularly, it should hopefully lead to free throw attempts for him, of which he’s had 1.7 per game thus far, and he’s hit 67.9 percent of his attempts.

His free throw rate has been a bit below average 23.6 percent, but with the lack of pull-up viability at this point, he could have more impact offensively in the short term this season if that free throw rate were to see an uptick. And that wouldn’t seem to be unreasonable.

So to drive it home, hopefully in the second half of the season, with him perhaps more comfortable, we’ll see Okoro look to initiate/seek out contact more, and look to dictate more going toward the rim. Doing so would make him harder to account for for opposing guards/wings and could draw more fouls from rim protectors if he’s decisive.

That sort of thing could lead to more of an offensive impact for him, which could be more significant paired with his defensive work, which has been typically solid.

We’ll see if Okoro, whose had his ups and downs, but has hung tough in this COVID-19-affected season that had essentially no offseason, will bring on contact more game-to-game in the second half.