Preseason should help Cavs see if Okoro’s offseason work can materialize

The 2022-23 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers and other NBA teams is set to tip off within a month now, and training camps are going to begin soon.

For the new-look Cavaliers, they swung a trade for Donovan Mitchell early this month, and they’ll be hoping the former Utah Jazz star can help propel this iteration of the squad to new heights. He’ll join Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen being the oldest of what’s still a young core that should only get better from here, and for the Cavaliers, Mitchell’s postseason experiences should aid those guys and the group.

There are questions about the starting 3 position following the deal, though, and defensively, it’ll be up to head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and company to figure out the best lineups to use to be formidable on that end.

In that realm, one would assume that Isaac Okoro could again be in line for a sizeable chunk of minutes, and players such as Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens could, too. With Okoro, he can make his mark again on the defensive end, which is his calling card.

Nonetheless, even with that being the case, if he’s going to play a considerable amount of minutes this coming season, he does need to show more offensively still.

Through two seasons, he’s had 9.6 and 8.8 points per outing, with his minutes being a bit less last season, from 32.4 to 29.6 per contest.

Last season, he did exhibit some catch-and-shoot development more so in the back half of the year, and closed out strong in relation to the attempts he did take from three. Still, the volume overall last season was only 2.3 three-point attempts per game, and that was a bit less in that more efficient time.

Looking at this coming season and/or beyond, it’s apparent that Okoro does need to demonstrate more offensive viability, if he’s going to play near or over half of games, seemingly. Maybe we do see that this upcoming season, on the plus side.

There’s been flashes, and fortunately, per a report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com last month (subscription required), Okoro has been working tirelessly throughout the offseason to improve his offense, and is showing ‘great signs of development.'” 

To that point, preseason could provide a glimpse into if the offseason work can pay off meaningfully on offense for Okoro, which is something I’ll be watching.

The preseason should help the Cavs see if Okoro’s offseason offensive work can materialize in Year 3, to some degree.

Okoro has been working on his catch-and-shoot play from deep, and the team has reportedly stressed for him to be working on making strides as a shot creator and seemingly some as a secondary playmaking presence. The Fedor report was prior to the Mitchell trade, but it’s still evident Okoro needs to display more offensive capabilities.

As we touched on, there was some growth from him in catch-and-shoot plays, leading to an overall three-point shooting hit rate of 35.0 percent. The volume was not exactly high, as we also hit on, in fairness, and going forward, Okoro needs to be able to shoot those looks with more conviction, to aid the team in crucial stretches, too.

Granted, the dude is still just two years in, with him only 21 still, entering his third season. He was pretty raw offensively heading into the NBA as well coming out of playing one collegiate season at Auburn.

Hopefully in preseason, that can enable the Cavaliers to have some more an in-game look at Okoro’s progress, and whether his offseason developmental time can pay off in the season ahead. He should receive a solid chunk of minutes to help establish some rhythm, feasibly at the 2 and 3 in those games next month.

In those, perhaps there’s some indication of the possible shooting strides, some tertiary playmaking and if some shot creation could be in store for him in years ahead. I have my questions about both of those things, but live reps are always meaningful, and for him heading into a crucial year, whether he starts or comes off the bench, one shouldn’t discount those even in preseason.

For reference, the Cavs have four preseason on Oct. 5 and 10 at the Philadelphia 76ers and then home versus them, host the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 12 and wrap up preseason at the Orlando Magic on Oct. 14. Cleveland opens the regular season at the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 19.