3 Cavaliers Playing Their Final Season in Cleveland

2. Isaac Okoro

Isaac Okoro will be a restricted free agent this offseason, and the Cavs hold his Bird rights. They could keep Okoro in Cleveland if they wanted, but the long-term view makes that less likely.

Evan Mobley will be an RFA in 2025, and Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen are unrestricted free agents in 2026. Stretching themselves thin to keep Okoro is not going to keep this franchise in a healthy long-term state.

Okoro has continued to show some nice improvements this year, shooting 39% from 3-point range while facilitating a little better when he has the ball in his hands, but he's still not done enough to make himself an irreplaceable part of this rotation.

The upcoming free agent class is going to be very deep with veteran wings, and the large number of available options should help Cleveland find a strong replacement at a discount price-tag.

We may not get someone with as much long-term upside as Okoro, but taking that age discount for a veteran would make sure we're not getting any sort of an immediate downgrade where Okoro contributes most. At the same time, the right vet would also bring some extra leadership and a valuable locker room presence to help replace TT's.

It would be sad to see Okoro go, but if you're choosing between Okoro or being able to keep the rest of the Cavs' young core together the decision becomes pretty obvious.