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From Fedor:
It’s been an offseason grind for Okoro, who is entering a make-or-break campaign.
One of the Cavaliers’ development coaches joined Okoro in Atlanta and has been directing those sessions. According to a source who has seen the workouts, the 21-year-old embattled swingman has been “working his ass off this summer” and is showing “great signs of development.”
Shortly after the season ended, the Cavs created a specific summer workout plan for Okoro, with four primary points of emphasis.
- Three-point shooting.
- Attacking closeouts and getting into the paint more frequently.
- Using his body to create different-angled, non-dunk finishes.
- Adding a one-dribble pullup to his halfcourt package.
While the Cavs clearly want Okoro to become that highly valuable 3-and-D wing, they have also encouraged him to use his athleticism more frequently to unearth different aspects of his game in halfcourt situations. They recognize those flaws, which became painfully obvious during the play-in tournament losses to Brooklyn and Atlanta, with defenders often sagging away from him and sending that extra defender toward All-Star point guard Darius Garland instead. Okoro’s inability to make those open shots, combined with hesitation at times to even take them, led to the offense bogging down.
The hope is Okoro will become more of an offensive threat in Year 3. President of basketball operations Koby Altman used the term “unlocking” to describe their vision.
As for starting him at the 2, some numbers support it. At least, in the regular season. His feisty defense is valuable, keeping Garland from taking those tougher on-ball matchups. Okoro also doesn’t dominate possessions on the offensive end, giving Garland freedom to run the show. In more than 1,300 minutes together, the Garland-Okoro combination outscored opponents by 6.2 points per 100 possessions. The Cavs had an offensive rating of 114.8. It’s a starting backcourt Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff strongly considered prior to the 2021-22 season, before ultimately sticking with Sexton.
Nonetheless, all signs keep pointing to Caris LeVert as this year’s starting shooting guard.
www.cleveland.com
My hope is that Okoro makes a quantum leap this coming season and establishes himself as an elite perimeter defender who can also knock down the open 3 consistently, finish at the rim, and hit a 15-foot pull-up jumper when the lane is closed off.
But if his efforts are mostly unsuccessful and he's the third string shooting guard (or 4th string if we have LeVert, Sexton, and Agbaji) then trading him and Love (to make the salaries work) for LeBron would be no-brainer.
It’s been an offseason grind for Okoro, who is entering a make-or-break campaign.
One of the Cavaliers’ development coaches joined Okoro in Atlanta and has been directing those sessions. According to a source who has seen the workouts, the 21-year-old embattled swingman has been “working his ass off this summer” and is showing “great signs of development.”
Shortly after the season ended, the Cavs created a specific summer workout plan for Okoro, with four primary points of emphasis.
- Three-point shooting.
- Attacking closeouts and getting into the paint more frequently.
- Using his body to create different-angled, non-dunk finishes.
- Adding a one-dribble pullup to his halfcourt package.
While the Cavs clearly want Okoro to become that highly valuable 3-and-D wing, they have also encouraged him to use his athleticism more frequently to unearth different aspects of his game in halfcourt situations. They recognize those flaws, which became painfully obvious during the play-in tournament losses to Brooklyn and Atlanta, with defenders often sagging away from him and sending that extra defender toward All-Star point guard Darius Garland instead. Okoro’s inability to make those open shots, combined with hesitation at times to even take them, led to the offense bogging down.
The hope is Okoro will become more of an offensive threat in Year 3. President of basketball operations Koby Altman used the term “unlocking” to describe their vision.
As for starting him at the 2, some numbers support it. At least, in the regular season. His feisty defense is valuable, keeping Garland from taking those tougher on-ball matchups. Okoro also doesn’t dominate possessions on the offensive end, giving Garland freedom to run the show. In more than 1,300 minutes together, the Garland-Okoro combination outscored opponents by 6.2 points per 100 possessions. The Cavs had an offensive rating of 114.8. It’s a starting backcourt Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff strongly considered prior to the 2021-22 season, before ultimately sticking with Sexton.
Nonetheless, all signs keep pointing to Caris LeVert as this year’s starting shooting guard.
Any chance Isaac Okoro will start for Cleveland Cavaliers at shooting guard? Hey, Chris!
Okoro has spent time on the campus at Auburn University, where he played one season before becoming the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
My hope is that Okoro makes a quantum leap this coming season and establishes himself as an elite perimeter defender who can also knock down the open 3 consistently, finish at the rim, and hit a 15-foot pull-up jumper when the lane is closed off.
But if his efforts are mostly unsuccessful and he's the third string shooting guard (or 4th string if we have LeVert, Sexton, and Agbaji) then trading him and Love (to make the salaries work) for LeBron would be no-brainer.
