Results were mixed, but Cavs’ Isaac Okoro has been aggressive in return

It was tough that after he missed a few games in December because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols, that Cleveland Cavaliers wing Isaac Okoro missed five outings recently in January as well with an elbow sprain.

Leading into his absence in COVID-19 protocols, Okoro had been on a tear on the offensive end, having 16.6 points per contest in a five-game span prior to that, and before the elbow sprain, he did show some positive things offensively and from three.

There are ups and downs for him still there, and he’s got a ways to go in his development, and him taking over at the interim starting 2 mostly since Collin Sexton has been injured has been fine, and defensively, I buy what he brings against opposing wings. At times against opposing point guards, I’m not as bullish, but he’s done decently.

Circling back, when the injury initially occurred for Okoro, it was rough to see for the Cavs, particularly with Ricky Rubio recently having torn his ACL during that same week.

Lamar Stevens it seemed would be in for a bigger role, which was fine, but with the progression Okoro had been showing, him potentially out for a few weeks made that a precarious situation for the Cavaliers. That’s regardless of the Rajon Rondo trade acquisition, when it comes to some minutes with Darius Garland (he’s been out this week due to hamstring soreness, though).

Okoro would miss five games with that elbow sprain; Stevens did a great job in filling in, fortunately, even having career-high scoring nights twice. I would still likely prefer Okoro starting normally; even still, Stevens getting legit rotational minutes as a big wing defender and driving presence is logical.

So what have we seen from Okoro in his three games back, then? It’s been a mixed bag, as he had issues converting in those first two, but it’s been good to see the aggression there in his minutes off the bench. And it was encouraging that Okoro had 4 and 6 free throws, with him knocking in just 2 and then 5 of those, which was more of what one wants to see, clearly.

Additionally, back in a starting role against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday in an afternoon MLK Day tilt, Okoro gave the Cavaliers a lift with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and along with a couple of transition dunks, he was assertive in getting to the basket.

The results have been mixed, but Okoro has been aggressive in getting to the line for the Cavs in his first few games back.

There’s been inconsistencies from Okoro this season offensively, in which he’s had 9.1 points per game, and generally, that’s to be expected still, and his defense has still been impactful when he’s been healthy for the Wine and Gold. There are still some young moments from him on that end, such as at times in coverage against James Harden/Kyrie Irving on Monday, and some tough fouls do happen here and there for him.

Overall, though, I’ve been pleased with him there, and Okoro having Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen behind him undoubtedly helps, which is the case for others as well.

And as we alluded to, offensively, while there have been inconsistencies in his first few games back from that elbow injury, which is to be expected; it has been nice to see him attacking at least in getting to the rim, on the plus side. That was big for him against the Kevin Durant-less Brooklyn on Monday, too, as we briefly hit on, and Okoro knocked in all 4 of his free throw attempts then.

Also, despite going 1-of-5 from the field in 24 minutes off the bench in Cleveland’s comeback at the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, he did again still look assertive, and had 6 free throw attempts in that one, and he hasn’t appeared passive.

Getting to the line does allow Okoro to get more easier opportunities throughout games, whether it’s from navigating through gaps in set situations, or in the transition game, similarly to that of the aforementioned Stevens.

Now do I still want him to ideally utilize pull-ups at times to counter the drives? That’s definitely something that he needs to develop in the near future, so obviously.

But how he’s looked in these past few games, in regards to the approach, has been a key positive takeaway, and hopefully that continues.

Hopefully the Cavs can still find ways to get Stevens, as an aside, some meaningful time still, however, factoring in his defense and what he demonstrated on offense prior to that Brooklyn game, in which he didn’t play in. Dylan Windler did and made some things happen, though.