Isaac Okoro He may not have gotten the contract he was hoping for after restricted free agency, but he still came out of it with a pretty good deal.
Okoro and the Cavaliers agreed to a three-year, $38 million contract, keeping the defensive end in place. Cleveland, Okoro’s agents told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The two sides were expected to reach an agreement before camp opened, and this contract — just below the mid-level exception — appears fair, with $33 million of the contract fully guaranteed, reports Chris Fedor of Cleveland.comOkoro was looking for a raise from the $8.9 million he made last season (the final year of his rookie contract) and he got it, though restricted free agency didn’t give him much leverage (other teams expected the Cavaliers to match any reasonable offer).
Okoro averaged 9.4 points per game last season and shot 39.1 percent from three-point range, but the consistency of his offense remains a question mark. Okoro has been a key defensive end for the Cavaliers, a plus defender for them at a key position, but the Cavaliers wanted more offense, which is why they went looking Max StrusOkoro will likely come off the bench and split playing time with Strus this season.
The Cavaliers brought back the same key players — Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen And Evan Mobley All of the players also signed contract extensions this summer, and the franchise is betting that new coach Kenny Atkinson can get the offense moving and help the team take the next step after 48 wins, a fourth-place finish and a first-round playoff victory. It will be a challenge on a deep Eastern team, but the Cavaliers are betting that the key players can bring more to the table than we’ve seen in recent years.
Okoro is now an integral part of this core.
