It’s not rocket science that the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ recent trade to acquire Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz was one that’s going to directly, and indirectly, affect the outlook for the team’s other players.
Mitchell is a player that’s going to be the primary option in a backcourt pairing with Darius Garland, and I’d expect Mitchell to be a de facto 1-type guy for stretches, too. He’s going to get his share of the shots for the team, via both on and off-ball scenarios, and it’ll take some time for him and others to get accustomed to playing off one another.
That sort of thing is only natural in this type of situation where Mitchell is going to be in an entirely new situation.
As far as others involved, it’s tough to say currently who will start at the 3 position, as Lauri Markkanen is no longer in that role, as he was a piece involved in the trade with Utah.
Players such as Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert and I’d think Dean Wade should be in the mix there, and to me, I’d lean Wade personally, in echoing what our own Josh Cornelissen detailed. Wade’s presence on defense and off-ball shooting could mesh well there.
Lamar Stevens could seemingly have a shot in that role, too, although some specialist defensive minutes should be in the cards for him.
Either way, generally, as it pertains to Okoro in this sense, factoring in stretches for seemingly the 2 and for the 3 spots, the Mitchell deal reiterates that Okoro needs to show further growth from three this coming season, and as a shooter overall.
The Cavs’ Mitchell trade reiterates the importance of Okoro’s shooting progression.
It’s difficult to say definitively for now prior to training camp at least, if Okoro’s going to begin the season as a starter or bench contributor. He’ll likely be in the mix to start at the 3, regardless of my preference on that.
Either way, one would think that Okoro should be regularly in the rotation again, for defensive ball pressure purposes, and he did exhibit some offensive growth at times last season. The splits didn’t necessarily indicate it as he had 8.8 points per outing overall, albeit in a bit less minutes (32.4 to 29.6 per game).
Okoro’s close to the season let to him improving some as a catch-and-shoot threat, en route to hitting 35.0 percent of his three-point attempts on the season. That was on 2.3 attempts per game, down from 3.2 the year prior, and the volume was down a bit in the last few months of last season. He was efficient on volume in that stretch, on the plus side, and when he was decisive off-ball, he did have success in that time, which was nice to see.
But this upcoming season, if Okoro is going to take the next step and warrant potential starting minutes again, with the trade arrival of Mitchell, the shooting growth has to come for Okoro this go-round, just as our own Quinn Minnich expressed.
Sure, I’m well aware that Okoro’s minutes will be more so for the defensive end, and he’s done a quality job, by and large, in that realm. It still would be meaningful for his long-term outlook for the Auburn product to demonstrate shooting growth, at least via catch-and-shoot plays, that is, to show more off-ball viability for stretches.
That sort of thing could make him more viable, and it’d add another layer to Cleveland’s offense in his minutes.
It might be unrealistic to expect Okoro to exhibit legit shot creation and/or secondary playmaking growth this next season, and with Darius Garland, now Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and/or Caris LeVert, if LeVert’s around, those things may not come often from Okoro.
Nonetheless, to warrant significant minutes regularly, possibly over Dean Wade/Lamar Stevens, too, theoretically, Okoro I personally believe has to have some true shooting development of note this upcoming season.
Maybe that comes, maybe it doesn’t, but if he’s going to play a similar minutes-share, it’d be key against quality teams and/or generally warrant regular crunch time opportunities, in theory.