It’s been a little under two weeks since Isaac Okoro was placed into the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and since, a bunch of Cleveland Cavaliers players have entered those.
The likes of Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, Lamar Stevens and Dylan Windler, among others throughout, have been in COVID-19 protocols since Okoro initially was, but it’s not as if the Cavs have been the only team dealing with virus/seemingly omicron variant issues. So many NBA teams have had a number of players enter and/or still in health and safety protocols, which led to the league temporarily altering its 10-day hardship exception rules.
For the league overall, hopefully virus problems don’t linger too much into January; we’ll see regarding that.
In the Cavaliers’ case, it does seem as if Isaac Okoro could be back fairly soon, too, which is a good sign, and perhaps other guys can work their way back by the end of the week. These comments from newly-extended Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Okoro’s progression from Sunday were encouraging, via this report from Kelsey Russo of The Athletic.
Just an observation: #Cavs Isaac Okoro is on the bench here tonight.
— Kelsey Russo (@kelseyyrusso) December 27, 2021
Before the game, J.B. Bickerstaff said Okoro is working his way back: "I think he's a little bit away from where he wants to be. But definitely making progress. He’s been working and improving daily."
It’s nice to know Okoro is progressing, and the Cavs will benefit with him back hopefully pretty soon.
Okoro had been really hitting his stride offensively leading up to when he went into protocols, with him having 16.6 points per contest in his five games prior to that, and in his eight games before heading into protocols, he’d connected on 43.3 percent from three.
Granted, I can’t necessarily read a ton into Okoro’s five-game span of outings pre-protocols absence, as the Cavs were hardly facing world beaters. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings are not good defensive teams, and the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and Houston Rockets were heavily depleted in those games, in which the Cavs were often blowing those shorthanded teams out.
That said, it’s apparent that Okoro, who had his share of inconsistencies offensively since filling in for the injured Collin Sexton at the starting 2, did appear to be growing more comfortable in a recent stretch of games before protocols.
Hopefully, perhaps in the next couple of games, or on Sunday versus the Indiana Pacers, Okoro have had his wind enough to help out the Cavaliers in some meaningful stretches, as he works his way back from that COVID/protocols absence.
As Bickerstaff’s comments above via Russo hit on, however, Okoro was not fully himself conditioning-wise seemingly yet, which is understandable. And I’d imagine it will still take a few games to be near-100 percent for him in that regard, as it likely took for Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen after they were working their way back from the virus earlier in the season.
When Okoro is back for the Wine and Gold, it will help bring back some sense of normalcy for the Cavaliers, and I’d assume move Ricky Rubio back to a supersub-type of playmaking role, which will aid the group overall and the rotation.
Additionally, the Cavs will benefit from Okoro’s perimeter defensive abilities, and even with him maybe playing a bit less from a stamina perspective, his slashing, particularly in early offense and in transition, will make a difference. Some of a secondary playmaking lift couldn’t hurt, either, and the 20-year-old wing had been showing some strides there.
It’s good to know Ice is progressing, and I’d hope back pretty soon for the Cavaliers.