NBA All-Star: Grades for Cavs in Rising Stars Challenge

Isaac Okoro

First let’s look at the older of the two, second-year wing Isaac Okoro. He is not much of a scoring threat at this point in his career, averaging just nine points per game despite playing 28.8 minutes per game. On a Rising Stars team with Mobley and Cade Cunningham running the show, his offensive role was not much greater than it is with the Cavs.

To his credit, Okoro was part of the team’s closing five against Team Payton in the first game, a major reason LaMelo Ball was held to just eight points. He had just one steal, but frequently disrupted the loose plays the team was running and forced a reset. In the second game it was more of the same, and Tyrese Haliburton was scoreless in the final – not solely as a result of Okoro, as Jae’Sean Tate was everywhere defensively, but he was one of the few players digging in defensively.

On offense it was a different story, as Okoro shot just 3-of-8 from the field for six total points across the two games, and added a tough late turnover that could have lost the game for Team Barry in the semifinal. He did have one smooth highlight play, a transition Euro Step into a layup that Cavs fans hope they see more of this season:

Overall it was a mixed bag for Okoro, which makes sense to anyone who has watched him through 1.5 seasons of his career thus far.

Grade: C+