He had really been giving the Cleveland Cavaliers quite a boost of late on the offensive end, as Isaac Okoro had 16.6 points per contest in his last five outings. That had been one of the reasons why the Cavaliers had been blowing recent opponents out in that stretch, and even with a few of those clubs not being healthy, or not being great defensively, Okoro and the Cavs had been getting it done in a big way.
It was nice to see Okoro get his offense going, considering the Cavs have been without Collin Sexton, who is out for the rest of the season, for a good chunk of games now, and Okoro has been starting at the 2 in replacement of him often. I’m still skeptical that can be the case beyond this season normally, though, but I do still foresee Okoro being a notable contributor.
In any case, it was rough news on Thursday that Okoro was placed into the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, given how he had been playing, especially. We’ll have to see if other Cavaliers potentially end up in protocols in days to come, and we’ll see on how long Okoro could be out for.
That said, in the mean time, with Isaac out, it puts more on the likes of Ricky Rubio, whether or not he ends up starting with Darius Garland in upcoming games, and the Cavs need the bench to help out some more.
Okoro’s absence puts more of an onus on Rubio and the Cavs’ bench in general.
As the obvious caveat here, provided Rubio doesn’t enter protocols in coming days, or others, and I say this with fingers crossed, to me, we could see him a bit more on-ball in crucial stretches. That’s with perhaps Darius Garland, who has been lighting it up from three, as more of a movement shooter; we know the pull-up attempts will be there, anyhow.
Whether or not we see Rubio take a bit more shots via drives, or seek out free throws, is tough to say sans Okoro, who had been getting it going more in that realm. Either way, with Okoro out, with both ends of the floor in mind, Rubio will be all the more important for Cleveland throughout stretches in games, as he’s still a very impactful defender.
From there, while I’m not necessarily suggesting it wasn’t evident prior to Okoro being out, without his rim pressure and/or transition presence, I could foresee Lamar Stevens getting some more minutes in these games Isaac is sidelined.
I’m not saying Stevens is nearly that type of Okoro, let alone Collin Sexton-level as a driver, but Stevens’ finishing and transition rim pressure, and defensive capabilities/versatility could be particularly useful with the club without both of those guys.
In the same light, in the open floor game, could we see more of a concerted effort from Kevin Love (as an outlet passer/secondary transition passer) and/or Rubio to get Cedi Osman easy ones, which have been prevalent lately? One would imagine that could be a point of emphasis, particularly in some spurts that Garland is getting a breather in games.
Maybe Cleveland finds a way to get Dean Wade, for defensive purposes, some more playing time, as an alternative to Stevens, relating to the bench having more of an onus on it as a group in coming games as well.
Part of what I’m alluding to here is that with Okoro out of the lineup, I could foresee Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and company looking to expand the rotation a bit, especially when it comes to defensive-minded guys, aside from Kevin Love getting his share of shots.
I’d look for Rubio to still be a crucial player in his minutes, clearly, whether or not he starts, and maybe Garland ends up off-ball a bit more.
As a side note though, we’ll again have to see if others are added to protocols for the Cavs, but with Okoro heading into protocols, Bickerstaff will need to change things up a bit more to help the bigs, and to get a meaningful perimeter defensive presence in there more. That’s to aid in keeping the important bigs out of foul trouble, for example, and to help the Cavaliers three-point defense.