The biggest area of improvement for Cavs’ Isaac Okoro

The Cleveland Cavaliers suddenly find themselves with a considerably deeper roster than they had last year around this time. There will be no shortage of questions heading into the 2022-23 season about the rotation due to the dearth of players at certain key positions. There could be numerous Cavs positional battles occurring right up until the start of the new campaign.

One of the biggest question marks at the moment centers around the growth and development of 2020 lottery pick Isaac Okoro. The Auburn product had somewhat of a fluctuating 2021-22 season as he looked to finally be breaking out at times while looking completely invisible on the offensive end at others.

This up down and play has made it truly difficult to pinpoint exactly what kind of player Okoro could become and it may also contribute to him falling down the order in the rotation as others look poised to earn minutes for this suddenly deep roster.

With that in mind, let’s examine the biggest area of improvement Okoro could target to set himself apart from the rest of the field.

Becoming a consistent, reliable threat from 3-point range for the Cavs would be huge for Okoro.

Isaac Okoro did not go 5th overall because of an ability to knock down the three ball. He was drafted purely based on his ability to defend the perimeter and the idea that he could one day develop into one of the league’s premier 3-and-D wings.

There had always been the semblance of a 3PT shot in his days at Auburn but rarely was it on display consistently as he completed just 28.6 percent of his attempts and never sank more than 2 threes in any single game while with the Tigers.

He carried those struggles from range into his rookie season with the Cavs as he continued to brick many of his opportunities. There were individual games in which he looked like a threat from the perimeter. Take his 32-point outburst against the Phoenix Suns in which he sank-3 of-4 from range, for instance.

But while he would surprise from time to time, far too often he would lay an egg and look like he’d never taken a shot from range in his life. That culminated in Okoro finishing his rookie year with a paltry 29.0 percent mark from beyond the arc.

He entered year two with higher expectations in that department and while he didn’t necessarily blow anyone away, he did manage an improvement in his overall percentage at 35.0 percent. The caveat to that improvement though is the fact that he did so on lower volume than his rookie season.

The 21-year-old attempted nearly 1 full shot less per game going from 3.2 to 2.3 in the span of a year’s time from deep. To further complicate things, of the 157 total 3-pointers attempted last season for Okoro, only one was deemed to not be open. He had a ton of opportunities with defenders choosing to back off and still didn’t convert them at a high rate. That can’t be too encouraging if you are making a case for Okoro to remain a nightly member of the rotation.

With that said, there were also moments during the 2021-22 campaign in which he appeared to finally be putting it together. In 24 games following the All-Star break, Okoro completed 44.2 percent of his attempts from 3PT range highlighted by his March 21 performance against the Los Angeles Lakers in which he went 4-of-4 from distance but didn’t have enough volume overall (1.8 attempts) for one to truly consider it a breakout.

The other glaring issue was his apparent hesitation to take the shot when it presented itself. This often led to defenders completely ignoring in him favor of making life more difficult for Cleveland’s other guards. If defenders are willing to afford Okoro adequate space to shoot, he must be equally willing to pull the trigger.

If Okoro can find the confidence to shoot when the situation calls for it, he may yet become a viable threat from distance that commands the defenses attention thus spacing the floor for a team that by all accounts, still intends to play big. If he can take advantage of his opportunities next season, he could render himself an invaluable asset to the rotation and a must-play.

There will indeed be fierce competition to be had within the guard rotation this season with Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, new addition Raul Neto, 14th pick Ochai Agbaji, a returning Ricky Rubio and perhaps Collin Sexton but rest assured, Okoro can separate himself from the proverbial pack if he can become a reliable shooter from range.

That combined with the hounding brand of defense that he plays should be enough to earn him a healthy dose of rotational minutes.

Be patient Cavs fans, Isaac Okoro could be poised for that fabled 3rd year breakout.