There’s things to build on, but Isaac Okoro’s O for Cavs must level up

It’s been unrealistic to expect big things from Isaac Okoro on offense for the Cleveland Cavaliers through his two seasons with them thus far. Okoro was Cleveland’s #5 overall selection in the 2020 NBA Draft, and to this point, he’s generally been solid defensively, and in the open floor, he’s generally been at his best offensively.

There were going to be limitations on offense for him early on in his career with the Cavaliers, and as a defensive-oriented wing that played one collegiate season in Auburn, I’m not going to fault him for that.

Offensive production has been inconsistent from Okoro, who has had 9.6 and then 8.8 points per contest in his first two NBA seasons with Cleveland. In Year 2, he began coming off the bench as a crucial defensive supersub, and then after Collin Sexton was lost for the season, Okoro began starting at the 2 regularly; in Year 1, he was more so at the 3. His minutes-share per contest dipped a bit from 32.4 to 29.6, for reference.

Regardless of circumstances, I believe Okoro has generally been what one would’ve realistically anticipated through his two seasons with the Cavaliers. Defensively, he’s had some struggles, sure, but the defensive workload he’s had has had to be considered, and he’s one of Cleveland’s best perimeter defensive options, and I think he’s done pretty well, typically, on that end.

He’s maximized on defense, as is the case for others, when Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen were both involved for the Cavaliers; even still, the 6-foot-5 wing has done generally a pretty solid on that end. Okoro is still really young, too, at just 21, and I do believe Lamar Stevens, and to some degree, Caris LeVert, giving him some relief will behoove the Cavs, either way.

On the other hand of the floor, though, as we’ve demonstrated, Okoro needs to be more impactful for Cleveland from here. He’s again, 21 years old, and played one year collegiately at Auburn, where he didn’t necessarily have a ton of opportunities in set offense.

That said, this next season, and during the offseason, it’s fair to say that Okoro needs to level up on offense in Year 3. Now-President of Basketball Ops mentioned in his end-of-season presser how the team needs to “unlock” Okoro next season, but that he essentially did have growth that shouldn’t be shortchanged, either, via Camryn Justice of WEWS.

There’s things to build on; Okoro just needs to take some of that a step further.

Patience has been understandable to this point with him, but Okoro needs to hit his stride offensively in Year 3 for the Cavs.

I understand that it’s two seasons into his career, and offense skill set was not the reasoning for Cleveland’s drafting of Okoro. Having said that, it’s tough to forecast Okoro developing into a 20-plus-point per game scorer in this league, whether that ends up being with the Cavs, or potentially a different team down the road. I like Ice, for the record, and I believe the Cavaliers need to give him ample time to see if he’s a long term fit, too.

This next season, though, if Okoro were to receive starting minutes-share once again, in his third season, in that scenario, it’s reasonable to think there needs to be an uptick in offensive production.

There’s things to build on, Okoro just needs to have more consistency offensively

In Year 3, while I won’t discount his defense, and that’s still the calling card, it’d be meaningful if the Cavs could consistently get 12-14 points per game out of him (of course, more wouldn’t hurt).

On a positive note, there are some things Okoro can build on, to echo our own Mack Perry’s point. Okoro improved as a cutter this season, his finishing as a driver and in transition, even still, took a step forward, and he did close the season making catch-and-shoot strides. He finished the season hitting 35.0 percent from three, and Okoro did shoot 44.2 percent from three post-All-Star break, and in his last 40 games, shot 38.0 percent from deep.

The clear point of concern in that regard was the attempts, however. Okoro showing the capability for much of the back half of the season to hit catch-and-shoot threes from the corner was encouraging, but in those last 40 games, he attempted only 2.0 deep balls per outing. So one has take that efficiency with a grain of salt.

Granted, regardless of what shakes out in the offseason seemingly, to me it’d behoove the Cavaliers for him to stress in offseason work to develop some of a mid-range pull-up, as even if the volume isn’t high, it could help him immensely as a finisher.

That’s something that’s been glaring at times, and heading into Year 3, it’s time for that sort of counter for him to be emphasized, whether or not he can become a threat on-ball to shot create from three at times. A floater, perhaps here and there, could be meaningful as well, for what it’s worth.

Some legit playmaking growth for the Cavs would make a difference, too

Also, while I understand it wouldn’t be necessarily a ton of the time either, Okoro showing some more progression as a tertiary playmaker could make him more impactful in set offense as a driving presence.

He’s shown some of that capability leading to quality drive-and-kicks, and did so at Auburn, I just do think that as he gets more experience, his feel for that should improve.

This past season, he had 1.8 assists per contest, and in Year 1, had 1.9 assists per game. He’s not going to be a crucial playmaking presence, really, just some more tangible growth in that area could open up more of his game, and would take his driving abilities a step further, is all.

On the year, Okoro’s assist-to-usage ratio of 0.68 did place in the 68th percentile among wings this season, per Cleaning The Glass. That was up from that being in the 54th percentile as a rookie, but it’s tough to say impactful ball movement is popping up from him throughout games a bunch.

So to drive it home here, although he might not necessarily regularly be a key offensive option in lineups for the Cavaliers throughout games, it’s fair to say that in Year 3, he needs to provide more game-to-game offensively. Well, that’s if he’s regularly going to be playing starter’s minutes, let alone playing often in closing stretches.

Things could change in that realm, but for now, objectively, this would seem to be a pivotal year on offense for Ice, provided he sticks around, and/or Sexton/LeVert, from my perspective. Okoro has to at least show on-ball strides and take the off-ball shooting a step forward, I believe.