The Cavs’ inability to round out Okoro’s game leaves them wondering what they have after four seasons.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are running out of ways to improve their roster as we head deeper into the summer. Trading restricted free agent Isaac Okoro has gone from a possibility to something that feels more likely than not. The Cavs need versatility and three-point shooting from the wing which Okoro hasn’t consistently provided. Why he hasn’t been able to supply that could be more related to the Cavs’ development as opposed to his talent.
The Cavs did a good job of optimizing their young players so that they could immediately get the best results under J.B. Bickerstaff. The Cavs found the best way to utilize Okoro’s unpolished skillset from the jump. He was forced to guard the opponent’s best scoring guard which is an area he excelled in almost immediately. To counter-balance the offensive deficiencies, he was placed into the corner and asked to score on cuts to the rim or corner threes. The issue is he’s just a better version of that player now.
Okoro’s efficiency has gone up each year showing that he can upgrade his skills. He finished last season with an impressive effective field goal percentage of 57.9% (77th percentile). This is quite the jump from the 48.3 effective field goal percentage (23rd percentile) he posted as a rookie. The improved three-ball is the biggest reason for that. The issue is his role with the team has actually shrunk.
An overwhelming 86% of his makes were assisted (18th percentile) which demonstrates Okoro hasn’t been generating his own shot. By comparison, 72% of his field goals (45th percentile) were assisted during his rookie season. The team context has improved drastically since his first year, but this shows how the constraints around him have tightened even though his skills have increased. Okoro has refined his best skills but not expanded them in a way that makes him close to a complete basketball player.
“If you talk about someone who executes everything to a T, [it’s Okoro],” Bickerstaff said before a February matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers. “Like [the coaching staff] laughs and joke that he’s a programmed robot, right? He just does whatever you tell Isaac Okoro to do. He literally goes and just does that.”
Bickerstaff said this in a way to praise Okoro for his hard work and coachability. Yet, you can easily view it in a different light. Okoro seemed to follow the coaching staff’s direction. That direction also stifled his growth leaving him constrained to a predetermined box.
This mirrors other Cavalier developmental arcs. Darius Garland is exceptionally skilled, but the growth he’s shown throughout his career has been due to excelling in the areas he was already good at. Garland came into the league as an excellent shooter and pick-and-roll distributor, but his shortcomings in moving off-ball and playing beside another ball-dominant guard haven’t been addressed. He hasn’t been effectively pushed out of his comfort zone. The same is true for Evan Mobley. The Kenny Atkinson hire, and the emphasis on player development in the aftermath, seemed like the front office’s way of admitting this is an issue.
It would be justifiable for the Cavs to write off Okoro. The holes in his game have been there for four seasons. That said, we’ve seen the growth he’s made as a shooter and have seen flashes of the overall player he could be. Okoro’s shortcomings aren’t skill-based.
His play from mid-December through the All-Star break provided a glimpse into how putting the ball in his hands more would reap benefits. Okoro demonstrated an increased willingness to attack the basket and play make for others (9.7 assist percentage in that span) that he seemed unable to do when he was placed back into a smaller role once the team returned to full strength.
Self-evaluation is one of the most important skills a franchise can have. It’s also an area that is fair to question the Cavs on. This front office has a recent history of undervaluing in-house talent with Isaiah Hartenstein and Lauri Markkanen. There are justifiable reasons why they parted with both. However, it’s fair to assume they didn’t know either’s potential when that happened. You can easily see someone as talented as Okoro following a similar path.
The Cavs need to nail their next series of moves. They have little ability to reshuffle the deck due to how constrained they will be by the cap and future draft picks. Moving Okoro may be the correct decision. Although, it would be easier to make that call if they fully knew what they had in Okoro.
