CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Darius Garland snaked around an Evan Mobley screen, trying to create a sliver of space while three Nets defenders converged.
Bruce Brown was the point-of-attack defender. Burly center Andre Drummond met Garland around the nail. Gimpy Seth Curry, fighting through an ankle injury, brought help from the short corner. Three black jerseys surrounding him, Garland had no choice. He kicked the ball to teammate Isaac Okoro in the corner.
Brick.
Okoro, known for his hustle and energy, tracked down the offensive rebound and gave the Cavs another opportunity.
As Garland reset the offense outside the arc, he called for another Mobley screen. Once again, multiple defenders approached. This time, Garland flipped the ball to Caris LeVert, who drove right of the lane before finding Okoro in the opposite corner. Wide open, Okoro lined up the shot while Brown, the closest Brooklyn defender, gave a half-hearted effort to contest.
Clank.
There was another uncontested Okoro triple late in the second quarter -- and another miss.
Those moments are not why Cleveland lost to Brooklyn in the first play-in game on April 12. But they do help explain why Okoro was benched early in the third quarter, why Garland was able to explode for 24 of his 34 points in the second half that night, why questions persist about Okoro and why this summer will be pivotal for his future.
Still just 21, Okoro is heading into his third season. That’s the famed leap year for youngsters.
“We want to unlock him,” president of basketball operations Koby Altman said during his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday. “We need to unlock him more on the offensive end; there’s so much more he can do. It’s on us to unlock his offensive ability, but you saw tremendous growth from him. The shooting piece really evolved post-All-Star (break).
“We know what he brings to the table from a defensive standpoint -- his attitude, his tenacity, his toughness – and we need that, especially when we get to the playoffs. We just need to figure out how to unlock him on the offensive end and that’s on us.”
The knock on Okoro entering the league was his iffy shooting stroke. There have been encouraging signs.
In 24 games following the All-Star break, Okoro shot 51.4% from the field, 44.2% from 3-point range and 75% from the foul line. But that was on low volume (1.8 attempts per game), with too much hesitancy. In the two biggest games of the season, Okoro was an unplayable offensive liability. Defenders largely ignored him, daring him to shoot from the outside. His man typically sagged off, used as the extra defender to deter Garland. The defense was designed to give Okoro those looks.
Pulling him from the game in Brooklyn unclogged Cleveland’s offense. There was more space for Garland and others. Less attention on him when driving inside.
A few nights later, the Cavs went into the second play-in game against Atlanta with a specific Trae Young Plan. Part of it centered on specific defensive principles -- shading him left, using size and length, showing multiple looks, forcing the ball out of his hands with timely traps. But it was more than that. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff believed the best defense was offense. The goal was to exploit Young on the defensive end, putting him in every action, beating him up with screens and zapping his energy. There would be nowhere for Young to hide.
That ruthless strategy required Okoro coming out of the starting lineup. Okoro started the season as a supersub -- until Collin Sexton’s season-ending injury forced a change, with Okoro becoming the full-time starting shooting guard. He started 66 of the next 68 games, including the play-in versus the Nets. But in Friday’s all-or-nothing matchup, the Cavs needed five offensive threats.
Even though his hard-nosed defense might have been helpful against Young, the Cavs needed LeVert’s scoring potential. Had Okoro been in the starting group, Young would’ve guarded Okoro. The Hawks would’ve deployed the typical don’t-even-bother tactic. At this point of his career, Okoro -- most effective in the open floor and cutting to the basket -- lacks the diverse offensive skill set to capitalize.
Without beating mismatches or knocking down open jumpers, it becomes tougher to justify so much playing time -- even when making an impact elsewhere. Okoro knows it. That’s his offseason focus.
“We’ve got a hungry group of guys on the team right now, so we know this offseason everybody’s already talking about what they want to do to improve, how they’re going to come back better,” Okoro said. “I always know my defense is going to be there. Just try to be more involved in the offense and working on those offensive skills.”
Near the end of the 2020-21 season, Okoro showed exciting flashes as a go-to scoring option. Garland and Sexton were both sidelined, shifting Okoro into a higher-usage playmaker role -- a throwback to his early playing days. During summer league, the Cavs continued to dabble with that, putting him at point guard. But when the season started, Okoro occupied a lesser role.
Perhaps part of the unlocking approach is giving him more chances to create. Whether that’s reality or not remains to be seen, especially with Garland, Sexton returning from injury, LeVert getting more acclimated and the possibility of either re-signing Rubio or bringing in another ball-handler.
Either way, Okoro’s next step is clear. Becoming more of an offensive threat -- and reliable shooter -- would raise Cleveland’s offensive ceiling. It would keep him in the starting mix and solidify his spot -- tenuous right now -- in the team’s future.
Okoro took 157 3-pointers this season. All but one was classified as open (defender 4-6 feet away) or wide open (defender not within 6 feet). Despite the lack of defensive attention, Okoro shot just 34.6% on those attempts. He was a paltry 1-of-19 on pull-up jumpers. In all, more than 48% of Okoro’s field goal attempts came with a defender at least four feet away.
Yet he averaged just 8.8 points on 48% shooting and 35% from beyond the arc in 29.6 minutes this season. While the shooting numbers increased from his rookie season, the other metrics went down. He scored double figures 26 times in 67 games. He hit the 20-point mark just four times. There were only 13 games in which he made multiple 3s.
During Okoro’s brief exit meeting, Bickerstaff spoke about the many ways Okoro impacts the game and commended the youngster for always taking the nightly challenge on defense. In a few weeks, there will be a more detailed Zoom meeting between the two. They will dig deeper on Okoro’s role while sharpening the developmental plan.
No matter his defensive proficiency, Okoro’s trajectory doesn’t currently point to a high-minute, starting-caliber wing.
The growth on offense will be the fulcrum of a third-year leap.
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