Pass or Pursue: 3 potential Okoro trades for Cavaliers

Trade No. 1: Okoro to Portland

The Portland Trail Blazers have had a serious flaw in their roster construction for most of Damian Lillard’s career. Their two best players have been small guards, which puts them at a defensive disadvantage. Even with CJ McCollum in New Orleans, the development of Anfernee Simons is both a blessing and a curse.

That’s why they will almost certainly be in the market for perimeter defense this summer, and ideally, a player who can defend opposing guards. That’s Isaac Okoro’s specialty, and he proved over the past two seasons that he is one of the best backcourt defenders in the league. The Blazers, with Lillard and Simons and Jerami Grant all starting, have the spacing that Cleveland didn’t have to make Okoro less damaging.

Okoro doesn’t have a ton of value right now, but here is one deal the Blazers could send over:

The Cavaliers would be getting a 6’5″ forward who is still only 23 years old, a thicker and stronger defender than Okoro who is better deployed against opposing forwards (although either way not the defender than Okoro is). Little’s 3-point percentage ticked up this past season and he could still round into a low-end starter.

Ultimately, this move is more shuffling of the deck chairs than a true improvement, and Cleveland already has a better version of Little in Dean Wade, who makes up for less athleticism with a better shot. This one doesn’t move the needle.

Verdict: Pass