Rumor: Okoro could be moved in sign-and-trade

Okoro could be moved for a bigger wing.

The Cleveland Cavaliers need to improve their roster but have limited ways of doing so. The front office reportedly isn’t interested in trading Jarrett Allen or Darius Garland at this time. This leaves them with a handful of seconds and a 2031 first-round pick as their only future assets that could feasibly fetch something in a trade. That is aside from Isaac Okoro who still has upside as a prospect.

Okoro is a restricted free agent. Other teams can sign him to an offer sheet, but the Cavs would be able to match that offer. The Detroit Pistons are one of the teams with cap space that reportedly has interest in Okoro. This isn’t surprising given former Cavalier head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was recently given the job in Detroit.

Trading Okoro is also an option. Cleveland can do this as long as Okoro hasn’t signed an offer sheet which he hasn’t done yet.

Bobby Marks of ESPN has suggested that the Cavs could indeed move Okoro for a bigger wing that better fits alongside Cleveland’s core. He went as far as suggesting that this is something he can’t talk about yet and equated it to the situation with Donovan Mitchell’s contract extension that he knew about before it became official.

From Marks:

Cleveland’s got Isaac Okoro who’s a restricted free agent. Look at maybe sign and trade options for him. Maybe a bigger wing . . . I don’t want to give away the beans here, so keep an eye on Cleveland as far as Isaac Okoro here. . . [The Cavs] are about $9.5 million below the luxury tax. So if you do a sign-and-trade with Okoro, you got to be careful as far as what money is coming back.

Who the Cavaliers could possibly get in an Okoro sign-and-trade is unknown at this time. The Brooklyn Nets are an obvious target as they have bigger wings in Cam Johnson, who the Cavs are reportedly interested in, and Dorian Finney-Smith. Okoro at 23 would fit much better on a team like Brooklyn’s timeline.

Okoro will be going into his fifth professional season. While he’s shown growth as a shooter, the Cavs still don’t exactly know what they have in Okoro due to how he’s been utilized. Okoro finished last season averaging 9.4 points, three rebounds, and 1.9 assists on .490/.391/.679 shooting splits.