In the 2020 NBA Draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Isaac Okoro, a 6-foot-5 wing out of Auburn 5th overall. Ever since then, Okoro has been okay, nothing spectacular. However, as the Cavaliers have now added Max Strus via sign-and-trade, and have re-signed Caris LeVert, the need for Okoro on the team is not really there anymore.
Sure, he still can get playing time, but it’s reasonable to believe that Okoro won’t be on the team for the 2024-25 season.
Okoro’s one of the three Cavs players who are now expendable after free agency. Okoro’s still young and has plenty of room to grow. Unfortunately, his offensive limitations can sometimes outweigh his defensive abilities. He’s probably the best perimeter defender on the Cavaliers, but since he can’t do much on offense, his playing time has suffered tremendously.
Looking at his stats, he averaged 6.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists last year. He doesn’t take a lot of shots, as he only put up 4.7 shots per game last season. He shot a decent 36.3 percent from distance, but considering he takes so few shots, it didn’t really accumulate to wins.
Ever since his career started, his playing time and role have diminished every year. In his first season, he was a full-time starter. In his second year, he started almost all of the games, outside of a few, but his minutes dropped a bit. As for last season, he didn’t start as much, and his minutes dropped a lot.
That begs the question, could the Cavaliers trade Okoro, to give Okoro a fresh start, and to give themselves a better player for their team?
Surely, some team would like to take a look at Okoro and see if he still has untapped potential still left in the tank.
In that case, here are two trades to give Okoro a new home.
The first would net a backup 5 for Cleveland.