Isaac Okoro’s catch-and-shoot growth for Cavs has been great to see

Defense is going to be Isaac Okoro‘s calling card for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he’s taken more positive strides on that end of the floor this season.

Okoro is still a very young player, at just 21, and in his second year, but he has done a fine job this season, by and large, on the defensive end. He’s often tasked with taking the opponents’ best perimeter option, and while there are still some growing pains at times, Okoro has objectively done a commendable job in on-ball defense in that sense.

There still are some unfortunate fouls from him in closeouts to pull-up threats or to drivers, sure. That’s going to happen, particularly in today’s NBA, and with the skill and talent level of guards and wings.

But overall, I think Okoro’s play there has been about as good as the Cavaliers could’ve asked for, and he’s made his presence felt in passing lanes, too.

On the other end of the floor, even with limitations, and him needing to improve his handle in coming seasons, ideally, and developing a pull-up would go a long way, Okoro has shown further development offensively in Year 2. There’s still inconsistencies, as KJG’s John Suchan expressed, but as the season has worn on, Okoro’s demonstrated better feel as a cutter, has found gaps as a driver, and has improved as a finisher.

That said, it’s been good to see positive signs from him as a catch-and-shoot player, too, in the last couple of months. On the season, Okoro has improved his three-point shooting hit rate from 29.0 percent as a rookie to 35.6 percent this season, thanks to how he’s done in the past couple of months.

In that realm, it was noteworthy how, among qualified players, Okoro has the NBA’s fifth-best three-point shooting clip, of 49.0 percent, as pointed out by Cavs Notes. This was prior to Cleveland’s last loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, in which he was off, but the point holds true.

Okoro’s catch-and-shoot growth for the Cavs has been great to see.

I get that Okoro, who has had 9.0 points per outing this season, has a ways to go to be fully considered a two-way wing in this league, but I have to give him his credit for catch-and-shoot development, particularly in recent months.

It’s not as if he’s going to be taking nearly the three-point attempts of Darius Garland, Lauri Markkanen or Kevin Love, as that volume for him has been 2.5 attempts per contest in Year 2. Having said that, as KJG’s own Mack Perry did demonstrate pretty recently, Okoro has at least been getting it done when the opportunities have come from the corners.

Corner three-point attempts have constituted 72.5 percent of Okoro’s three attempts this season, and he’s connected on 36.1 percent of those. Last season, Okoro hit 36.6 percent of his corner three attempts, but those only accounted for 38.3 percent of his total three attempts.

Point being, while I don’t just want Okoro chilling in the corners a ton of the time, he has been effective in the second half of the season in knocking down those looks with them making up a far higher volume of deep attempts for him, and the year overall in Year 2. That, to me, has been a positive sign from the second-year wing.

I still can’t say with complete conviction if he or Collin Sexton, or perhaps Caris LeVert, if both Sexton and LeVert stick around, if Okoro is the starting 2 looking onward, but regardless, Okoro will still play a significant chunk of games from here, I’d assume. He’ll get play at the 3 still, too, I’d think, and either way, Garland and Sexton/LeVert will feasibly be staggered, so Okoro should get run with all three, I’d imagine.

Circling back, though, it’s been great to see Okoro’s catch-and-shoot growth as the season has progressed for Cleveland, and whether or not we’ll see him to develop more tangibly as an on-ball presence from here, the past two months have been a welcomed sight.

It’s unfortunate that the Cavaliers have been hampered by injuries this season, such as to Jarrett Allen for most of this month yet, and now Evan Mobley missing time stinks, so postseason hopes seem to be fading. However, as we’ve touched on, Okoro’s catch-and-shoot development over the course of the season shouldn’t be discounted, nor his cutting growth.

That’s something that hopefully he can take with him and continue to improve upon in the upcoming offseason.