Tracking the emergence of Cavs wing Isaac Okoro in his third season

Okoro continues to rise

The term bust has yet to be used lightly against the Auburn alumni. Has the Atlanta native been an absolute cornerstone piece the Cavaliers have been able to build around? Not necessarily. Nor do I think that he’s done developing as a player either.

The Cavaliers selected Okoro as the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He’s halfway through his third NBA season and turns 22 on Jan. 26. To say he’s done developing would be a fib, especially since he’s progressed every month since the start of his junior campaign.

During a time when the Cavaliers have been eagerly looking for a consistent 3 in the rotation, the 6-foot-5 wing is steadily climbing month after month. The climb has been slow but constant, and if you’re still looking at No. 35 as the fifth overall pick, you might be doing a disservice to yourself.

He simply doesn’t have to be “that” guy Cleveland expected him to be coming out of the 2020 NBA Draft. Say what you want, but one thing you can’t say about the kid is that he’s not hooping. How did Okoro get to this point a little over the halfway point this season?

In the month of October, Isaac Okoro was averaging 16.2 minutes, 1.7 points on 22.2 percent shooting. He averaged 1.7 three-point attempts during the month, coming out with a goose egg percentage of zero in October.

In November, Okoro climbed the ladder a bit, averaging 20.6 minutes, 5.3 points on 45.9 percent from the floor, going on to average a poor 28.2 percent shooting clip from three through the second month.

In the final 31 days in 2022, Okoro’s minutes lessened by two minutes averaging 18.2 minutes per game. At 48.6 percent from the field, Okoro averaged 6.2 points per game, also shooting (29.4 percent) from deep in the month of December. It’s not much, but I’ll tell you what it wasn’t..regression.