Surging Six: These Cavs are playing great heading into All-Star break

Cavs recent standout No. 5: Isaac Okoro

Isaac Okoro has turned a corner this play for the Wine and Gold seemingly since the turn of the calendar to 2023 as well.

Okoro’s perimeter defense is going to be what many point out from him, and with matchup versatility in mind, and his constant ball pressure, that’s always going to be the primary expectation from him.

Realistically, that’s a fair take, too, and I’m in the same boat there. We have to know at this point, Okoro is a defensive-oriented contributor, and that’s fine with others involved at the other end. He’s seemingly made progress as a team defender as well, and his hustle plays shouldn’t go unnoticed there, either.

However, Okoro has been more productive offensively recently, and he deserves some praise for his development there. In his last 21 appearances, he has demonstrated some further catch-and-shoot growth, as he’s connected on 44.4 percent of his three-point attempts in that span.

The volume then hasn’t been a ton, at 3.0 attempts per outing, but he’s clearly shooting with far less hesitation when the chances have been there, and he has converted well on looks to counter closeouts on the interior. Connecting passing has been a positive, playing off that, from Okoro, too.

It’s difficult to say what the minutes-share moving forward is going to be for Okoro, with the offensive questions still, as an aside. To his credit, though, he’s showing more signs of two-way viability for the Wine and Gold, and has had a strong response to what was a rough start to the season.