For the Cleveland Cavaliers, much of the 2021-22 preseason has been trial and error, tweaking lineups and seeing who stands out to make the roster heading into the season.
One of the players who has stood out in Friday night’s game was rookie backup point guard Kevin Pangos.
Pangos, 28, signed with the club in early September after playing six seasons overseas, where he has had success making the All-EuroLeague first team in 2020-21. He averaged 13.6 points and 6.6 assists per game last season with Zenit Saint Petersburg in Russia.
Despite being in his first season of the NBA, Pangos looked like a seasoned veteran in his minutes late in the Cavaliers’ loss Friday night against the Indiana Pacers.
He played with good pacing on offense and consistently stayed with his man on defense. While he can shoot well from deep, he gives the Cavs another distributor off the bench who can run the offense.
While it might be early in the preseason, Pangos has an opportunity to carve out a role for this Cavaliers rotation.
While Pangos impressed in his debut, one Cavs player who underwhelmed in his home debut was second-year wing Issac Okoro.
Okoro finished the night with zero points a rebound, a steal, and an assist. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff mentioned the team needed to get the young forward involved early to get him in a rhythm on offense.
Okoro, 20, was able to showcase his skill on offense late in 2020-21, where he averaged 16 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in May to close out the season. The young wingman worked on his playmaking ability in NBA Summer League.
Okoro will look to get on track on offense against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night at 7:00 pm at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
