Cleveland Cavaliers wing Isaac Okoro is still only 21 years old. When I saw that again, I was surprised. He’s been in the NBA now for two years and has done a fairly respectable job entering the league and producing on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
But the team that he plays for is entering a new era of basketball where they will likely be competing at the highest levels, where they get to the playoffs and start challenging to get to the NBA Finals and win one. That puts more pressure on these young Cavaliers including Okoro.
While Okoro has improved from year one to year two it may not be enough to change his use on the team. He’s been a regular starter these first two seasons and helped in many different ways to get his team so close to the playoffs this past season, but is it enough? We’ll discuss that question first. Then we’ll look at a couple other issues that could arise in the future that could make or break his future with the team.
Reason No. 1 it could be a make-or-break season for Okoro: Minimal improvement between year 1 and 2
We’re going to need to see some much bigger improvements from Okoro in year three. While there were improvements by Okoro in year two, they weren’t enough to say to ourselves, ” Yes, Okoro is the guy we need and should continue to be a big part of the Cavs.”
A lot has been written and discussed in the past two seasons about Okoro’s great defensive skills. While that part of his game has likely kept him in the mix on this team, it won’t be enough to keep him on the team as we move forward.
I understand traditional statistics don’t always tell the whole story. I had a daughter that played basketball at the collegiate level and her statistics wouldn’t always tell the whole story. Once her coach said of my daughter, “We’re just better with her on the court.”
She averaged roughly a career four points and four rebounds a game. She was a regular starter or sixth man and the teams she played on were very good and reached the highest levels of the NCAA tournament when she was playing.
I share this background, because I too recognize Okoro’s value to the Cavaliers, but with new players coming onto the team and the future in the NBA a tough task to predict for many of these young players, the former Auburn Tiger will have to really challenge himself to increase his production especially on offense.
When you analyze Okoro’s numbers you start to see that there wasn’t much improvement offensively. He started all 67 games he played in his first season. He nearly started all of the games in year two. His overall minutes played per game were slightly down from 32 to 30. His field goal attempts were down in the second season as well. He shot 8.3 shots per game in the first year and only 6.4 in the second.
While it seemed that he was taking more three-point shots in the second season he actually shot fewer per game. He went down from 3.2 a game to 2.3. His scoring average also went down to 8.8 per game from 9.6 in year one.
Getting his production up will be important this next season if Okoro wants to be a key member of the Cavaliers or his days in Cleveland could come to a close sooner than later. This is if he plays similar minutes regularly, in that sense.
Reason No. 2 it could be a make-or-break season for Okoro: New players will challenge him for minutes
There is always competition and with the Cavaliers there are several players who will challenge Okoro for his spot on the team. The team has drafted a few new players including Ochai Agbaji, who comes from Kansas University. Agbaji will challenge for a starting role on the team as the season progresses it seems.
He was a very experienced college player having played all four seasons at Kansas. He’s an excellent three-point shooter and can score baskets in bunches.
That’s not Okoro’s game to score points. Agbaji is also a quality defender so that will make things even more difficult on Okoro.
The Cavs have also brought in free agent guard Raul Neto, who was with the Washington Wizards last season. The team already has Caris LeVert returning, it seems Collin Sexton likely will be, and Lamar Stevens and Dylan Windler could all challenge for more time on the court. Windler could potentially be moved via trade, for roster numbers, but we’ll see. The gist is, Okoro really needs to keep improving for him to make it out of the crowded room.
The other player that will be in the mix and likely a starter is Sexton, if he’s not traded, for what it’s worth. This all means that Okoro will likely not go into the season as a starter, a place he’s been used to. Then he’ll have to get used to coming off the bench and making a difference. And as we are saying that room is crowded with talent so standing out could become more of an issue for Okoro.
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.
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.