Cavs columnist on Isaac Okoro contract: ‘That’s a huge win for Koby Altman and the front office’

The Cleveland Cavaliers and wing Isaac Okoro were finally able to come to an agreement on a new deal last week after the 23-year-old spent almost the entire offseason as a restricted free agent.

In the end, it took a three-year, $38 million offer from the Cavs to lock down the former lottery pick, who is now under contract with the team through the 2026-27 season.

The way one Cavs columnist sees it, Okoro’s new deal is a “huge win” for Cleveland.

“I think at the beginning of the season, we were talkin’ about maybe the mid-level exception as sort of the line in the sand for whether Isaac takes a contract with another team or comes back with the Cavs, and the Cavs got him on basically an extended qualifying offer contract, so, yeah, that’s a huge win for Koby Altman and the front office,” Cleveland.com’s Jimmy Watkins said.

There were reportedly teams who had interest in acquiring Okoro through a sign-and-trade this offseason.

But a sign-and-trade never came together, and Okoro also never signed an offer sheet from another team, allowing the Cavs to bring him back without having to match a competing offer from a different organization.

The 23-year-old will now look to take a step forward as he continues his Cavs tenure. He has improved as a 3-point shooter in each season of his NBA career, and he’s already a solid defender, so one could argue that he’s becoming a legitimate 3-and-D player.

Okoro will still have plenty of seasons left in the tank by the time his new deal expires, so if he plays well over the course of his three-year contract, he could land a nice payday in the future.

Last season, the Auburn University product averaged 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 49.0 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from deep. He was less effective in the playoffs, struggling from an efficiency standpoint in particular, but his season still featured some reasons for optimism overall.

If Okoro can take his game to new heights this season and beyond, the Cavs could become bigger threats in the Eastern Conference after they were finally able to win a playoff series last season. A deep postseason run in the new campaign would thrill the city of Cleveland, and Okoro will certainly do everything he can to help that become a reality.