Isaac Okoro has begun his second season as primary a bench contributor for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the Cavs have been running their three-big lineup of Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen from the jump.
This is still something that’s sinking in for me, at least with Cleveland on the offensive end essentially having Markkanen at a de facto 3 spot, but I get it, to some extent.
Now, Markkanen has not been able to get it rolling game-to-game yet, no; even still, he is starting to get more comfortable off-ball in playing off the two bigs and others. Hopefully the shot comes around, anyway.
We’ll have to see if the three bigs keep playing together for significant stretches, regardless, but they likely will.
Circling back, Okoro has been getting his share of minutes still, and has been solid defensively, although I personally don’t love it when he’s on opposing primary playmakers for extended stretches. I find him more suited to play wings; assuredly he’ll get some time on primary initiators, in any case.
That said, I’d imagine for a bit here, that Okoro won’t be nearly 100 percent, as an aside, given he sustained a hamstring strain in Cleveland’s win at the Denver Nuggets on Monday. It happened when Okoro was driving in transition after snagging a loose ball; unfortunately, right after, one knew he wasn’t nearly 100 percent, with the hamstring seemingly being the culprit.
With Okoro banged up for some games ahead, it’d seem, to me, that’s more reason to utilize Lamar Stevens, at least for some minutes, though. Stevens is a strong defender that can defend 2-4, from my perspective, and here and there, can help cut off penetration against opposing 1s for spurts. He did receive 21 minutes of action in Cleveland’s impressive win, albeit with no Kawhi Leonard still, to go with Serge Ibaka, on Wednesday at the LA Clippers.
Even so, it was a nice W by the Cavs again, and Stevens, despite only two points on 1-of-6 shooting, was active defensively, and his energy was felt in key stretches.
Cavs: With Okoro banged up, some more Stevens PT would be sensible.
Stevens got some rotational PT last season thanks to his effectiveness as a big wing defender that could help ease the burden on Okoro some for spurts, and with him being a sturdy 6-foot-6, 225-pound player, Stevens held his own even some bigger wings and 4s.
Stevens’ physicality does lead to some fouls at times, particularly when trying to stay with movement shooters coming around off-ball screens. And in fairness, I get that others still factor in, such as Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler, if he stays healthy, might. Okoro has been cutting into Collin Sexton minutes some, regarding the 2, and I’m not the biggest fan of that.
However, to me, in coming games with Okoro banged up, it might be sensible for Cleveland to find ways to get Stevens some more meaningful playing time, given that he’s a solid wing defender that is also switchable if needed. Wednesday was a good sign, along those lines; I can’t say for certain if that hold, though.
In some games upcoming, it might behoove the Cavs to trim the three-big lineup minutes, and have just two of the three in there in the middle stretches, with one of the two being Markkanen, given his spacing element, and have Stevens in some for defensive purposes. That’d be with Sexton at the 2 mostly, and if Darius Garland’s minutes are cut down for Ricky Rubio, with Garland still seemingly working his way back regarding an ankle sprain/getting his rhythm, so be it.
With Okoro clearly banged up, and having missed that Clippers game on Wednesday, it should strengthen Stevens’ case.
Stevens did an admirable job, from a defensive perspective, when he was regularly involved last season. And whether or not Kevin Love and/or Larry Nance Jr.’s injury issues last season played into that, as plenty of his minutes were at the 4, Stevens did help his case for this season.
He does a nice job of making perimeter threats shoot tough shots over the top, cuts off driving angles pretty well, even for an undrafted player previously out of Penn State in 2020, and his team defense was a key positive from his play in Year 1.
In that realm, he had a respectable 1.2 steals per-36 minutes, which was notable for a player that averaged 12.5 minutes per outing as initially a two-way player before having gotten a multi-year, albeit non-guaranteed deal from there. Stevens had a 2.3 percent block rate, too, which I don’t gloss over.
Granted, again, I’m not saying Stevens should get a ton of PT necessarily, but with Okoro seemingly far from 100 percent, and with hamstrings being tricky, his wing defense could provide a lift for a few stretches.
He’s not a floor spacer, involving the offensive end, as he hit only 4-of-25 from three (16.0 percent) last season in 40 appearances, but Okoro hasn’t been effective from three, either. And Stevens does pressure the rim some when given the opportunities, can create a bit from mid-range and similarly to Okoro, is an adept cutter.
I’d be on-board with Stevens getting some more PT in upcoming games, to drive it home. We’ll have to see, but he assuredly provides energy when he’s in there defensively and with his athleticism at the rim offensively.