Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 potential breakout candidates in 2021-22

The Cleveland Cavaliers‘ 2020-21 season is over and it is now time to shift the focus over to the offseason. This offseason is a big one for the Cavaliers as they have the potential to become a competitive team for years to come if things fall their way.

Looking back at the season, there were a lot of positives to take away from it and the players that they were able to add over the course of a year are continuing to blossom. The team is still a couple of pieces away from a real chance at the playoffs and confidence is high on the Cavaliers being able to add those players.

This season could be looked at as a year of growth as we saw a number of players on the team take that next step in their games. The biggest plus has not only been the growth of top picks like Collin Sexton and Darius Garland but the growth of those back-end players turning into legitimate role players for the Cavaliers.

Seeing as the season gave opportunities to many, players will have some expectations riding on them for next season, specifically the expectation to make that next jump in their games and “breakout”.

With that said, here, we will look at three potential Cavs breakout candidates for next season.

The first is their young rookie wing who was the fifth selection in the past draft.

Cavs potential breakout candidate #1 in 2021-22: Isaac Okoro

Isaac Okoro had a very promising end to the season and with the talk of the Cavaliers needing a third shot-creator, there’s a chance that Okoro can mold into that player. To start the year, Okoro played as expected as he became accustomed to the league. He was hesitant from three-point land to start the year off and had foul issues.

As the year went on and Okoro became more comfortable, his production increased. To end the year, Okoro averaged 16.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game over the Cavaliers’ last 12 games while guarding the opponent’s best perimeter player. The biggest progression of his game during this time was his aggression on the offensive end.

Over that 12-game span, Okoro shot 5 threes a game which ranked fourth on the team throughout that stretch. Though he didn’t shoot well from three, the increase in attempts is promising.

Now injuries did admittedly play into the production increase in that closing stretch for Okoro, but the end to the season is something for him to build on, as KJG’s Dan Gilinsky hit on. With the NBA now having a normal offseason, there’s a ton of chances for Okoro to work on his craft both offensively and defensively.

Adding in the fact that players such as Cedi Osman and Taurean Prince don’t seemingly have a set role with the team and it makes sense that Okoro will see an increase in his offensive workload next season.