It’s late August and the Cleveland Cavaliers still haven’t made a move regarding Isaac Okoro.
Okoro is a restricted free agent, so the Cavaliers can match any offer made to him. However, Cleveland can also re-sign him outright, especially if no other teams show real interest.
There is also the possibility that the Cavs could sign-and-trade Okoro, something that was discussed at length this summer.
However, there has been very little movement on the Okoro front in general, and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst revealed the reason why.
“The Cavs have made firm moves with fellow restricted free agent Isaac Okoro,” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective“I think there’s been just a few trades. I’m sure it’s going to intensify as we get closer to camp. I think the Cavs realize all the money is being spent there. Okoro has the option to accept his qualifying offer. I’m told the Cavs have made a multi-year offer, whatever it’s worth.”
The Cavaliers extended an $11.8 million qualifying offer to Okoro earlier in the offseason, which the former No. 5 overall pick could very well accept.
Why would Okoro take a one-year deal? Well, it would give the swingman an opportunity to bet on himself next season. If he has a good campaign, he could potentially parlay that into a more lucrative long-term deal.
For now, the 23-year-old is clearly not a highly sought-after player on the open market. Almost all of the money is gone and Okoro’s poor playoff performance last season may have deterred clubs from making him a significant offer.
Okoro played in 69 games last year, averaging 9.4 points and three rebounds in 27.3 minutes per game on a 49.0/39.1/67.9 shooting ratio. Those numbers dropped to 5.5 points and 1.8 rebounds per night in the playoffs, where the Auburn product posted a paltry 44.6 percent true shooting percentage.
