The Cleveland Cavaliers are going to be without Collin Sexton for the rest of the season, which was crushing news last weekend.
With that being the case, Cleveland will need to get production out of Lauri Markkanen, Kevin Love and other rotational shooters, and I’d assume Dylan Windler should inherently receive minutes for stretches.
Whether he starts or comes off the bench as a supersub more, the Cavaliers will need Ricky Rubio to make things happen to ease the burden on Darius Garland as well. Either way, heavy Rubio minutes are here to stay, assuming he sticks around; we’ll have to see how things play out in coming months pre-trade deadline.
Nonetheless, while Isaac Okoro will likely have regular minutes for defensive purposes, clearly, and he has shown positive things as a slasher, him hitting just 3-of-27 from three-point land on the year prior to Monday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets was abysmal. To his credit, Okoro did hit three triples in that one, but even with Sexton, who was adjusting to playing much more off-ball, off to begin year three, he was still helping open other guys often with his scoring presence.
With Okoro, he is a physical player that can get to the goal when he’s attacking downhill and getting through gaps, and his cutting feel has improved. That’s led to a free throw rate of 28.0 percent, which is a fairly notable clip.
That said, Okoro doesn’t have the tightest handle still, which can lead to him getting tied up, turning it over or he can occasionally have offensive fouls unnecessarily. That didn’t happen versus Brooklyn, a game in which he had 15 points; it has popped up on other occasions, though.
And with his hesitation from three and/or lack of viability in general, to me, it’s apparent that his lack of pull-up game, or even willingness to take those looks, has been hampering him offensively regularly.
Cavs: The lack of pull-up game still hinders Okoro.
Okoro has had his share of success on the interior; that’s it thus far, prior to Monday.
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.
A pull-up could help open up more playmaking opportunities, and it’d lead to more open interior looks as a result
At least in the near term, if he attempts a few shots in the pull-up and/or floater game, perhaps out of pick-and-roll, it could eventually lead to more free throws, or open up interior looks off of hesitations or quick bursts.
That sort of thing could enable him to have more pick-and-roll counters, and it could help open up productive ball-swings off of that as well, which would pay off for Cleveland’s offense.
I acknowledge that last season, it was a tough set of circumstances for Okoro, and he began this season off the bench, and still might be a fair amount from here. But for his offensive progression, his lack of pull-up shooting, or even willingness to attempt those looks after a full offseason where he was reportedly working tirelessly on his shot, has been concerning.
Hopefully, Cleveland is letting him know to shoot some pull-ups here and there, to help open up more of his game inside, and maybe help create more looks as a secondary playmaker for his teammates off of his drives.
That second point is really where some pull-up viability could be a boost for the Cavaliers’ offense, as if Okoro demonstrated willingness to take those, if defenders were to rotate to him, other movement from others could help Garland, Evan Mobley when healthy and other guys. That’s not how it is currently, though, and defenders off-ball often stunt hard to close off Okoro’s drives.
Granted, I’m not going to just completely grill the 20-year-old yet. He’s just in Year 2, and still is a key defensive presence that can get better if the offensive end comes along further.
Right now, the Cavs do need some more out of him if he’s going to be an interim starter, however, particularly in times at the 2.