As we head into the 2023 calendar, the Cleveland Cavaliers are in nice shape. Cleveland is 25-14 on the season, and is sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference Standings.
The Cavaliers have to get healthier here, and they have to get kinks out on the road in what’s set to be a January schedule that’s more road-heavy.
This is still a team that’s one of the youngest in the league, too, and it’s crucial that the Cavaliers don’t have Darius Garland (thumb sprain) out for an extended stretch. It’s also understandable that the Cavs are a club that’s reportedly expected to seek a short-term wing option leading into the NBA’s trade deadline next month, to help bolster the 3 position and for a player that can alleviate some pressure on the core guys.
All things considered, though, there’s plenty to be optimistic about for the Wine and Gold, and the team set to have Ricky Rubio back seemingly soon can’t be discounted.
For the Cavaliers, however, as we get into the 2023 portion of the schedule, it’s been encouraging to see a few Cavs recently pick up their play, and it’s been a positive for Cleveland’s depth.
3 Cavs have been trending up of late as we head further into January, and we’ll discuss their play here.
One of those players, in no particular order, is Isaac Okoro.
No. 1: Isaac Okoro
Okoro’s primary role is going to be as one of Cleveland’s crucial defensive players, usually in minutes off the bench or at times as a starter.
He’s not a player that one should expect to regularly be putting up gaudy offensive numbers, and despite extensive work coming into the offseason, and still seemingly outside of games, the three-point shooting uptick hasn’t been there. This season, he’s hit only 26.0 percent of his three-point attempts, and his scoring has dipped to 5.1 points per contest, albeit in a role with significantly less minutes at 18.9 per outing.
That being said, his perimeter defense has been his calling card, and while there are still some difficult stretches for him, and I do lean Lamar Stevens in some matchups, and it seems the Cavaliers do somewhat versus bigger wings, Okoro is usually impactful on that end.
His screen nagivation has generally been on-point in recent weeks, which has often forced tough shots, and his efforts with his boxouts and at times offensive tip-outs shouldn’t go unnoticed. He’s never been averse to floor burns, either, and those sort of energy plays have helped the Cavaliers in recent comeback efforts.
Also, though his offense does still have a ways to go, in the past few weeks, he has found ways to make meaningful secondary passes, has shown he can attack closeouts to make plays from time to time, and his off-ball movement has steadily improved this season. In Okoro’s last eight games (four of which have seemingly been spot starts), he’s had 8.5 points per contest, and has connected on 53.5 percent of his shots in 20.9 minutes per appearance.
If Okoro can find subtle ways to affect games on offense from here, and at least stick corner threes, it will make a difference. But we’ll have to see more of a sample size.
No. 2: Kevin Love
Kevin Love is starting to pick it up of late. Following him working some rust off after missing time at points because of injury ailments, with the last having been a thumb injury, he’s started to find his rhythm again at the right time, and has been big on the boards.
In Love’s last seven games, he’s had 11.3 points per contest, and has added 8.9 rebounds in 25.2 minutes per appearance.
He was zero-of-nine versus the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night from three, but in that stretch, he’s still connected on 39.5 percent of his three-point attempts, and in two spot starts in Cleveland’s last two outings against the Bulls, he’s chipped in a 20-point game on New Year’s Eve and a 12-point, 17-rebound game on Monday night. Love’s five deep balls on Saturday all were big in a one-point win, too.
Love did foul out Monday, and was three-of-nine from three, but his rebounding was crucial, and generally, as he’s gotten healthier, his shooting has given the Cavaliers a lift in bench stretches.
The spacing from him has continually made a difference for Cleveland’s drivers and the likes of Jarrett Allen, too, and when Ricky Rubio returns, that should pay dividends for a shooter of Love’s caliber. The same goes for when Darius Garland is re-acclimated, also.
No. 3: Cedi Osman
Don’t look now, but Cedi Osman is heating up for the Wine and Gold. No, the four-of-12 Wednesday performance versus Phoenix didn’t highlight it; he did still give Cleveland a meaningful boost with his energy, though, and that’s part of the reason why in that game, he was a team-high plus-11.
The sixth-year swingman did miss a couple of recent contests with back soreness, however, he gave the Cavs a lift in his bench minutes with 12 points against Chicago on Monday night. Additionally, in his last nine appearances, he’s had 12.9 points in 24.8 minutes per game, and has had a cumulative plus-minus of plus-5.9, which has been a Cavs’ best.
In that span, he’s converted on 37.8 percent of his three-point shot attempts, and Osman has at times found ways to avail himself for leak-outs in the open floor, leading to energy plays and early-clock buckets. His true shooting rate in that nine-game stretch has been a robust 63.3 percent, for good measure.
Now, Osman is naturally going to be a player that can be streaky offensively, but he has the capability to ignite runs, as he’s proven in recent seasons. It’s been good to see Osman given more opportunities in recent weeks to establish a rhythm and help give the team a lift in his minutes, as opposed to other points in the season thus far, such as when he’s had DNPs on occasion.
And while he could be a player continually mentioned as a potential trade chip, as has been a player in trade rumors for some time it seems, he has demonstrated he can be an X-factor-type player off Cleveland’s bench that can go off in a moment’s notice.
Time will tell, but Osman has shown he can be a spark plug for the Cavaliers, and he’s amid a productive stretch to begin 2023.