Report: Isaac Okoro’s showing in 2024 NBA Playoffs ‘hasn’t helped his negotiating position’

According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, Isaac Okoro’s play for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the team’s stint in the 2024 NBA Playoffs “hasn’t helped his negotiating position” as he remains a restricted free agent.

“While he gave his team 9.4 points a game on 39.1 percent shooting (from deep) over the regular season, he struggled in the playoffs at 5.5 and 25.7 percent, which hasn’t helped his negotiating position,” Pincus wrote.

According to a report from late last month, the Cavaliers feel as if they have presented Okoro with more than one reasonable offer so far this offseason.

“Sources say the Cavs and Okoro’s reps remain in contact,” Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor wrote last month. “Cleveland likes Okoro. It values him — to a point. Wants him back — at the right price. The current front office drafted Okoro fifth overall in 2020, bypassing the likes of Obi Toppin, Deni Avdija, Jalen Smith, Devin Vassell and Tyrese Haliburton, among others.

“Last October, Avdija received a four-year, $55 million extension. Toppin got a new four-year, $58 million contract this summer to stay in Indiana. Smith joined the Chicago Bulls on a three-year, $27 million deal.

“Sources say the Cavs have already made multiple variations of what they deem fair, multi-year offers that align with Okoro’s perceived market value and his place within the hierarchy of the organization. Those potential deals also give him financial security. While that number hasn’t been disclosed, the belief is it’s closer to the contract Smith signed as opposed to the ones given to those more-accomplished classmates.”

Okoro averaged fewer points, rebounds and assists per game in the 2024 NBA Playoffs than he did in the 2023-24 regular season. On top of that, he shot the ball with worse efficiency.

On the offensive side of the ball, Okoro failed to string together a substantial stretch of consistently productive play during the Cavaliers’ playoff run, which ended in the second round at the hands of the Boston Celtics.

The 23-year-old — who was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft — reached double digits in points in only three of his 12 playoff games and never totaled more than 12 points in any one contest. He finished with that point total in Cleveland’s Game 2 victory over the Celtics, when he shot 5-of-6 from the field and knocked down his one 3-point attempt.

Okoro scored zero points in the 2024 NBA Playoffs almost as many times as he reached double digits in scoring. The Auburn University product laid eggs in back-to-back games of Cleveland’s first-round series against the Orlando Magic. In Game 3, he missed all three of his shots from the field, and he didn’t take any shots in Game 4.

Okoro has certainly grown as an offensive player overall, but that wasn’t always on display during the 2024 postseason. If he returns to the Cavs, perhaps he’ll be motivated to wash that sour taste away in the 2024-25 season.