Cavs: Isaac Okoro will need to will himself to FT line, rim pressure often

I know that plenty of Cleveland Cavaliers fans aren’t too fond of Collin Sexton, and no matter what he does, they never will be. That’s fine, as that’s their opinion, and I’m not going to get into that conversation right now.

With Sexton set to be out for an extended period because of a meniscus tear in his left knee, though, Cleveland is likely to have a by-committee approach throughout games, when it comes to 2 guard minutes. That’s to some extent, at least.

I’d anticipate Ricky Rubio to still fill in at both the de facto 1 and/or combo guard some in instances with Darius Garland, as he’s done. Him filling in in a supersub-type role is one I’d prefer to see still, in fairness, and if he’s in closing lineups often, so be it.

In regards to others, it appears that Isaac Okoro and Dylan Windler, while they’ll play some together I’d imagine, could very well be playing a legitimate share of minutes at the 2. That’s whether Garland or Rubio is at the 1 in those stretches, for context.

In Cleveland’s close loss on Wednesday to the Washington Wizards, which was hopefully an L they’ll learn from, Okoro got the starting nod at the 2 and did a heck of a job in helping to slow down Bradley Beal.

With Windler, given his injury woes throughout his career, I’d expect Okoro game-to-game to have more of a real shot at being the interim starting 2 sans Sexton, to that point.

To get this out there, I don’t honestly believe that long term, Okoro is the better starting 2 option over Sexton, who is set to be a restricted free agent next offseason as of now.

Sexton was showing a more well-rounded game last season, and pre-injury this season, despite the assist splits this season; the Cavs knocking down more open looks would’ve aided him there. And the threat of Sexton for opposing defenses as a three-level scorer helps open up more opportunities for others, in my opinion, that is.

That being said, if Okoro from here gets his share of rotational minutes at the 2 and 3, that’s fine generally, as he has shown he can be a very solid defender, and there have been plenty of flashes from him from a rim pressure perspective.

Now, Okoro did land awkwardly after coming down it seemed going for a defensive rebound late in that Washington game, but fortunately, per reports from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor and Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and the “Locked On Cavs” Podcast, Okoro seems fine. Hopefully that means his outlook is okay.

When he’s in in this upcoming stretch and looking onward, moving forward in general, though, really, Okoro needs to fully utilize the rim pressure element of his game. In-line with that, he needs to generate his share of free throws, too.

Cavs: It’s imperative that Okoro fully leans into the rim pressure element, and him helping as a secondary playmaker more would be impactful when he’s in there.

I’m not necessarily anticipating it in these first few games from him still returning from a left hamstring strain, and that hard fall again was tough, so I’d hope that’s not too concerning. That’s whether Okoro plays starting minutes or not. Projecting past that, though, Cleveland will need Okoro to get to the basket more, with Sexton out, especially.

Now, I understand that the shot needs to come in the catch-and-shoot game some for Okoro, at least when he’s open, and that hasn’t shown enough. Last season, he hit 29.0 percent of his 3.2 three-point attempts per outing, and before his injury absence, Okoro was not hitting deep balls.

But when he is in after a few more games here, when he’s more comfortable, to help ease the burden on Garland and Rubio, Cleveland does need Okoro to find ways to get downhill a decent amount in games, sans Sexton.

He did show last season, when the aggressiveness is there, that he can will himself to the rim and a positive last year for him was him having a fairly robust free throw rate of 28.1 percent.

If the Cavs, with defensive ball pressure and with how their rim protection and active off-ball defense can help generate transition opportunities regularly, that’d help Okoro in that area.

And it’d be meaningful for the Cavaliers to involve Okoro some in pick-and-roll, particularly in instances with Windler or, to some degree, Cedi Osman, and Markkanen or Love, when they’re back, in with him in spurts.

It’s of course up to Okoro to be able to initiate and help find those shooters in some instances with kickouts as a counter to rim pressure, but with him showing some ability last season to do so, and in his lone collegiate season at Auburn, maybe that could play out as well.

In any case, I’m not suggesting that Okoro is suddenly going to be Sexton-like as a driving presence, as he doesn’t have the scoring abilities at other levels Sexton has.

However, it’d be a lift for the Cavs, and take some pressure off of Garland and Rubio, if Okoro can be a legitimate driver more consistently in this upcoming stretch, after he’s feeling healthy. I do think that he’s capable in that regard at least, and him getting to the tin as an instinctive cutter could help some, also.