This from Stevens’ game for Cavs is something Okoro should emulate

Isaac Okoro seems to be a player headed for a crucial next season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, in what will be his third year after being drafted by Cleveland fifth overall in 2020.

Through his first two seasons, Okoro’s shown he can be a very capable perimeter defender, and with the workload he has had, he’s done better than one could’ve expected for such a young player. Okoro has some issues with quicker lead guards, when matched up onto them on-ball, and at times, can have problems with his contests of big wings/3s, but generally, I do believe he’s competent defensively.

Team defense is an area I’d like to see Okoro make some strides, and perhaps make more of an impact as a helper. In fairness, I do think that with more experience, that will come, and next year, we should see that more.

On the offensive end, though, Okoro needs to show more in Year 3 if he’s going to be playing over half of games, or near 30 minutes per game regularly.

Nobody is saying Okoro is going to be a primary or secondary option in his minutes, but there needs to be further strides taken from him. Okoro coming into the NBA was pretty raw on offense, and has had 9.6 and 8.8 points in 32.4 and then 29.6 minutes per outing in his first two seasons with Cleveland, which doesn’t constitute big scoring splits.

On a positive note, he has shown when he’s attacking, that he can get to the rim and in his second year, he demonstrated finishing growth. His cutting did improve some in his second season, too, which was nice to see.

Along with those areas, I do give Okoro some credit for some progress in the catch-and-shoot realm in roughly the second half of the 2021-22 season, too. Okoro finished out the now-past season with a 35.0 percent three-point shooting clip, thanks to him hitting 38.0 percent of his deep attempts in his last 40 appearances.

Nonetheless, with Okoro, the volume from three was not high by any means, as in Year 2 he took only 2.3 threes per game, compared to 3.2 in Year 1, and in those last 40 outings of 2021-22, Okoro’s volume was only 2.0 per contest.

When it comes to next season, whether or not there’s more notable progression in the catch-and-shoot game, it would help Okoro to actually take something from Lamar Stevens‘ offensive play. And that’d be mixing in some pull-ups.

Okoro should try to emulate Stevens’ game, to some extent, in regards to mixing in pull-ups.

Stevens is not necessarily a big-time offensive presence in his minutes, as he’s had 4.1 and 6.1 points per game in his first two seasons, and was initially a two-way player for Cleveland before being extended via team-friendly deal.

But, to Stevens’ credit, when the opportunities came for him, particularly in the closing stretch of this last season, he’s shown he can be a good driver and great finisher in his minutes. I acknowledge that most of Stevens’ made shots have been assisted, although, he has been able to make plays when the chances have come again, on drives, and he’s a capable mid-range pull-up guy.

We saw some of that in Stevens’ last 21 appearances of Year 2, when he had 8.4 points in 20.7 minutes per game, and connected on 50.7 percent of his shot attempts.

Anyway, while the volume wasn’t necessarily high, and is not going to be that to the extent of Darius Garland or Collin Sexton (in the event he’s back), Stevens does a solid job of hitting pull-ups enough as a counter to help free up his drives more.

The frequency was only 50 mid-range shots of 319 total for Stevens, in which he made 22 (44.0 percent), per NBA.com’s shooting data. But Stevens’ ability to get to that area enough to help him as a finisher is impactful, and it can help him get into a rhythm when he has meaningful stretches.

So, despite Stevens not being the pull-up threat of Garland or Sexton, that can be an effective counter for him, and was in his four-year collegiate career at Penn State, where Stevens ranks second in career scoring.

A pull-up at any area is not something that Okoro has proven to have. And he attempted 3-of-11 shots from the mid-range in 2021-22, a 27.3 percent clip on a frequency of just 2.6 percent, per NBA.com’s shooting data.

However, if he can at least develop that enough to be respectable there to some degree, it could help him be more viable game-to-game for Cleveland. He did shoot 48.0 percent overall in Year 2; he just can be overly hesitant is the issue, and the shooting limitations factor into that, so it can negate the efficiency.

The gist is, with Okoro, he’ll have to show some more tangible on-ball growth in his third season, particularly if he’s going to receive starting-type minutes. Maybe I’m wrong in thinking that with others involved and Okoro being defensive-oriented, but this suggestion we’ve mentioned here a la Stevens would make a difference for Isaac, I believe.

The guy is still only 21, and I get that. It just seems paramount that he demonstrates on-ball development, or helps more as a secondary playmaker in his third season. If not, I could absolutely foresee him being a trade candidate down the road, or maybe near the next deadline.