Fans have seen plenty of players put together breakout seasons this year. Tyrese Maxey, Coby White, and Alperen Sengũn are just a few names that come to mind who are contenders to win the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
However, the Cleveland Cavaliers have an underrated candidate who should at least be getting a little more recognition for the season he's putting together. This would be swingman Isaac Okoro.
Back in 2020 when Okoro was drafted fifth overall, the hope was that he'd become a reliable 3-and-D option for the wine and gold. While Okoro lived up on the defensive end, the shooting and his offense almost made him a liability at times to have the floor.
Okoro shot 45% from the field, 33% (2.6 attempts) from behind the arc, and averaged 8.2 points per game through his first three seasons in the NBA. This season he's drastically improved on the offense end as is now shooting 50% from the floor and his three-point shooting has jumped to 40% on 2.6 attempts a game.
Neither one of the players previously mentioned has seen a jump in efficiency that big from last season to this year.
Okoro has been able to do all of this while not sacrificing anything on defense. His defensive rating is still 113 and he's shut down some of the game's best scorers such as Damian Lillard, Jaylen Brown, and most recently Anthony Edwards.
Usage, situation, and counting stats of course still play a massive factor and they aren't on Okoro's side in this argument. Maxey has kept the Joel Embiid-less 76ers in playoff competition and Sengũn has helped turn the Rockets into a relevant team.
However, the strides Okoro has taken during this breakout season are something that is at least worthy of recognition to pure basketball fans and by the national media
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