It’s safe to say that through two seasons, it’s apparent that Isaac Okoro can be an impactful defender for the Cleveland Cavaliers in his minutes, and his screen navigation should get better as gets more experience.
Okoro is going to have some rough matchups at times versus bigger wings that can self-create and playmake, and versus some point guards, Okoro is going to have his lumps. All things considered, though, given the workload he’s had, for such a young player, it’s tough to have thought the Cavaliers would’ve gotten better out of him than what he’s done defensively through two seasons.
Offensively, on the other hand, he’s far from proven at this juncture. Coming into the NBA out of Auburn, it was evident he was raw, so one has to have had tempered expectations.
Through two seasons, he’s had 9.6 and then 8.8 points in 32.4 and then 29.6 minutes per contest in his rookie and sophomore campaigns. The catch-and-shoot play did show some development in his second year as he finished out with a 35.0 percent hit rate. But with the volume declining from 3.2 to 2.3 three-point attempts per game, and less than that in the back half of the season, I’m hesitant about suggesting there was marketed growth.
Okoro did make some strides as a finisher when the opportunities presented themselves, and his cutting feel did get better, so I give him his credit in those areas. One of the issues, unfortunately, with him is the lack of shot creation in set offense, and/or a lack of pull-up capability. Those things are not there.
Okoro is still really young at just 21, but on-ball shooting has not been on display much at other levels from him; he can make some plays as a driver, to his credit.
However, while it’s not something I’m saying we’d see at high volume in his minutes, I do think with Okoro, even if it’s more so as a ball-mover/connector, he could help Cleveland as a passer more often when he’s in there.
Passing growth could help Okoro’s outlook with the Cavs next season, which seems to have some uncertainty.
To reiterate, I’m not suggesting Okoro playmaking is going to lead to him racking him up five-plus assists regularly for Cleveland. Darius Garland, Raul Neto to some degree, Ricky Rubio when he returns from injury, and Caris LeVert likely would be the guys that get the Cavs into their set offense typically.
Collin Sexton, should he return, would help in that way to some extent, and as an aside, despite the Utah Jazz reportedly having explored a sign-and-trade for him involving Mike Conley, that move would be seemingly far-fetched from Cleveland’s side. Maybe a move involving Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt perhaps, if the Cavs were to consider a sign-and-trade involving Sexton with Utah, could help with Dylan Windler and another modest contract, sent to Utah also. But even that, I can’t say I’d necessarily be a huge fan of currently.
Anyway, regarding Okoro’s outlook, as we were getting into, while the shot is a question mark, if he can be more of a viable secondary ball-mover, it could make a difference from him.
It’s probably unrealistic to expect there to be volume pick-and-roll opportunities for Okoro, but if he can at least cause rotators to come from him taking advantages of mismatches versus bigs at times, that could lead to more productive kickouts. Or off that, he could make occasional dishes to cutters from the weak side.
Additionally, though his handle is an area that I’d assume has to have been an area of focus throughout the offseason thus far, Okoro at least making sensible extra passes, or some skip feeds from time to time to shooters would help the Cavs. Those from him have helped the club here and there, but if he can improve his vision somewhat as a secondary playmaker or capable tertiary ball-mover after receiving passes from others being doubled, it could help generate more quality shots for others.
Granted, as we noted, Okoro, who has had 1.9 assists per contest through two seasons, is not going to be a high volume playmaking presence.
That said, there were positive playmaking signs from him in his lone collegiate season at Auburn, and he has made some plays at times when he’s been more assertive to create. Perhaps next season we could see him help the Cavaliers more as a passer, with this next one being his third year and him maybe being more comfortable.
Nonetheless, if Okoro cannot contribute more consistently offensively, I’d imagine his role could be reduced significantly as the season wears on. Lamar Stevens, should he be back, could cut into Okoro’s defensive minutes, Sexton, if he’s back, is a factor and LeVert could be. Not to mention, Ochai Agbaji, if his catch-and-shoot and off-ball play translates, could, too.
We’ll see what transpires next season with Okoro in what is clearly a pivotal year for him.