"High energy player." "He's not a shooter." "Best defender in the class." "Has high end 3 and D wing potential." "Raw."
These are all statements that were used to describe Isaac Okoro ahead of the 2020 NBA draft. But are any of them true? Well, let's just say that his rookie season has been a culmination of all of these thus far. As a freshman coming out of Auburn averaging 12.9 PTS and 4.4 RBS, it was clear that he had the potential to score at the NBA level. The question has always been about how he would get those points. Okoro was only a 31% shooter from deep in his lone season of college and that scared off many scouts with today's game being so perimeter-centric. So has his lack of consistency from deep followed him into the pros? Not quite.
Okoro's stat line (8.2/2.8/1.9) can be awfully deceiving to look at. If you are taking them at face value then you might think that he has struggled just as much offensively as he did at Auburn. That just simply isn't true. While he is still shooting just 31% from 3 point range, with each game that passes he appears to be getting more and more comfortable taking that shot. In his last 5 games, he has shot 11/23 from beyond the arc on an average of 4.6 attempts per game with a career high 11 attempts coming in a loss against the Thunder. If that 5 game stretch is any indication of what is to come than he is already developing a part of his game that many thought was a lost cause. At times, he hasn't looked so comfortable driving to the rim this season even though he is hyper athletic and could look to draw fouls. This should improve over time as he learns what works best for him at this level.
The defense, his calling card, has carried over well into the NBA. It was the reason he was drafted so high. The Cavs needed defense in the worst way possible and made the right call. Generously listed at 6' 5" and 225 lbs, he is tasked game in and game out with defending the opposition's best guard or wing player. He's already stood toe-to-toe with the likes of Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Lebron James , Devin Booker, Jamal Murray, Damian Lillard and more. It hasn't been all rosy though as highlighted by a recent game in which the Cavs allowed Murray to score a career high 50 pts with out attempting a single free throw. It is perhaps a game like this one which shows just how important a defender of Okoro's caliber is in today's NBA. The mere fact that he is averaging a rookie leading 33.2 minutes per game shows how valuable and needed he is to the Cavs. He can guard 1-4 as evidenced in the Cavs most recent game (76ers) and will only continue to develop on that end of the floor.
Speaking of the 76ers game, Okoro might have had his best game of this season thus far. Not only did he score a career high 15 points and grab 8 boards, but he did it against an MVP favorite and possible DPOY candidate in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons respectively. He looked comfortable taking most of his shots and defended at a high level for almost the entirety of the game.
While the Cavs missed out on more skilled offensive playmakers such as LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards, they may have found their next All-NBA caliber defender of the future at the forward position.
End-of-year stat-line prediction: 12.5 Pts 4 Rbs, 3 Ast. and All-Rookie 1st team
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