Throughout the 2021-22 season, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the rest of the team has preached defense and scrappiness, which would lead to transition offense. No player has exemplified this more than Cavaliers wing Isaac Okoro.
Selected out of Auburn with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Okoro came into the league priding himself on his defense, being tasked by Bickerstaff to lock down opponents top scoring threats on a nightly basis almost immediately. His problem? His offensive game was still developing and needed time to be ready to contribute.
Since dealing with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for a few games early on in 2021-22, Okoro has found his rhythm, making 21 of his 31 shots in the team’s last three games and averaging 18 points a game in that same span.
While the focus so far has been on the three big men in the starting lineup, Cavaliers veteran big man Kevin Love called Okoro the X-Factor for the team.
“I think he's the X-Factor,” Love said following the game. “I mean him playing that way, being able to shoot the ball. And he's gonna have nights where in Utah where I feel like they're disrespecting a little bit. But we see how he shoots in practice, we should see the work that he puts in. I mentioned that belief system. I haven't seen him waver one bit. And I think the same is true with the rest of the team in Isaac.”
Love continued, “And that's why I think the last three games, how he shot it, but I'm saying and how he's played has been pretty great for our team. So if he's able to get out on the break, push the ball in transition, he gets the fouls and gets us in the bonus, he guards the other team's best player on the defensive end, like he does so many things and he's so talented that I think he is really that X factor. And at the same time, he's like a crazy talent as well.”
With Okoro’s defense already being such an integral part of the defense, his offensive evolution is certainly a welcome sight. The team has been looking for other scorers to step up in wake of Cavs guard Collin Sexton’s injury.
If Okoro can continue this recent streak on offense, the Cavs offense could take the step in its development. Considering that the team’s last eight wins have been by ten or more points, it’s time the league recognizes one fact: The Cavs are back.
