The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without one of their most impactful defensive players for the near future.
Fifth-year wing Isaac Okoro suffered a shoulder injury in the second half of the team’s win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday. An MRI confirmed his injury to be a right shoulder AC joint sprain. The team announced on Thursday that he’ll be re-evaluated in about two weeks.
Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell said that the team needs to step up its physicality with Okoro sidelined and explained that Cleveland will miss his presence on the offensive side of the ball as well.
“With Isaac being out, we have to continue to take our physicality to another level,” Mitchell said. “And then you’re also missing the second-best 3-point shooter in the league. I say that, like, jokingly, but not jokingly. I’m also dead serious. He’s a guy that [has been] knocking down shots and teams want to leave him. You obviously miss him on the defensive end, but offensively, he’s been playing phenomenally for us.”
Mitchell certainly has a point about Okoro’s hot shooting, as he has enjoyed far and away the best year of his NBA career from 3-point range this season. A career-high 49.2 percent of Okoro’s 3s have found the bottom of the net on 2.7 attempts per contest.
As Mitchell implied, Okoro’s 3-point percentage ranks second in the league among all qualified players. Milwaukee Bucks forward Taurean Prince is shooting a league-high 51.6 percent from deep.
However, for as great of a floor spacer as Okoro has been thus far in his fifth season in Cleveland, defense is his calling card and probably the side of the ball he impacts the most. Okoro’s basic defensive numbers are deceiving, as he’s averaging just 0.7 steals and 0.4 blocks per game.
He’s a much more disruptive and impactful defender than those statistics give him credit for. He has done a stellar job against star guards. Meanwhile, one of his best attributes as a defender is his versatility. He can guard multiple positions, a luxury for Cleveland.
Cavaliers fans shouldn’t be surprised if the team’s defensive effectiveness takes a slight dip for the duration of Okoro’s absence, but Cleveland should still be able to hold down the fort on that end on most nights even without him. Ultimately, the Cavaliers have the ninth-best defensive rating in the league this season and have more great defenders outside of Okoro.
Cleveland will play its first game since Okoro’s shoulder injury when it takes on the Bucks on Friday night.
