3 reasons next year will be make-or-break season for Cavs’ Isaac Okoro
By John Suchan
Reason No. 3 it could be a make-or-break season for Okoro: Contract is a potential issue down the road
Okoro signed a four-year, $29 million contract initially with the Cavaliers. The club option for this next season was exercised this past fall so he’s due $7 million this next season. The team has the choice to exercise the 2023-24 contract by this upcoming Oct. 31. If they do, then Okoro’s annual salary goes up to nearly $9 million, and it’d likely be safe to assume Cleveland would pick up that option, one would imagine.
The qualifying offer for the 2024-25 season looks to come in at almost $12 million and Okoro could possibly become a restricted free agent then. The interesting thing with a player and contract like Okoro is that the Cavs might be loading up on young talent and not going overboard at the moment signing any higher-priced free agents because they could be considering a run at trying to bring a one LeBron James back to Cleveland in 2023 when he becomes a free agent again.
Cleveland was limited this free agency period, anyhow; on the LeBron thing conversely, that’d seem to be a possibility next offseason.
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Anyway, at the young age of 21, I still think Okoro will stay with the Cavs moving forward, but he’ll have to really increase his offensive production, stave off several players challenging him for playing time and if he does that then he’ll seemingly receive a contract extension. But we’ll have to see what plays out.