Cavs: Lack of pull-up game still hinders Isaac Okoro

Okoro can get to the basket, but a pull-up game would go a long way

Okoro has converted on 66.7 percent of his shot attempts from the restricted area (per NBA.com’s shooting data) which has been a sign of growth so far, but he has connected on just seven shots outside of that.

Okoro has hit 1-of-14 non-restricted area paint attempts, none from mid-range, and as noted, only three three-point attempts on the season to this point prior to Monday. He’s now 6-of-34 from three, a 17.6 percent clip.

Now, the lack of catch-and-shoot viability is one thing, however, Okoro having yet to even take a mid-range shot attempt is another. That, from my perspective, is really concerning at this juncture.

I know that moving forward, Okoro has to be able to make some open catch-and-shoot triples, let alone threes from his own shot creation when defenders are laying off him. In the mean time, though, Cleveland will have to have triple makes generated from other guys, and Markkanen, Dylan Windler, Cedi Osman and Garland/Rubio will be the main cogs in those efforts. We’ll have to see if the Cavs were to make a move for a scorer as the season progresses, additionally.

Circling back, anyway, Okoro’s lack of a pull-up has still hindered his offensive game to some degree, and him at least being able to show some capability to hit those in the mid-range area could open more chances up for him.

Whether or not the threes do come in time in his development, while I’m not suggesting it’d be at a high volume, Okoro does have to take a few pull-ups in games, I believe. If he can be willing to take those at times, it’d make him less predictable to guard, and even with him being a player that’s at his best getting downhill, there has to be a counter for that.