3 Cavaliers Playing Their Last Season in Cleveland This Year
The 2023-24 NBA season has arrived and the Cleveland Cavaliers can't wait to see their team in action. After suffering a first-round elimination in the playoffs, the Cavaliers open up their new slate on the road against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
You'll recognize plenty of familiar faces as the Cavs' roster was mostly left unchanged over the offseason. That's due to Cleveland having one of its better cores in years, putting them in the position to be a playoff threat once again.
But while several core players will likely stick around for the long term, others likely won't be in Cleveland beyond the 2023-24 campaign.
With that in mind, here are three Cavaliers who are likely heading into their final season with the franchise.
1. Isaac Okoro
There was a ton of fanfare surrounding Isaac Okoro when the Cavaliers drafted him fifth overall in 2020. After all, the Atlanta, GA native was coming off a promising freshman season at Auburn that saw him earn second-team All-SEC and all-defensive team honors.
While Okoro had a solid rookie season in Cleveland, he hasn't been able to take the next step forward since then.
His defensive skills are solid, but his offense has been lacking. Those struggles were made evident last season when he averaged 6.4 points across 76 games. Although you can chalk it up to a lack of playing time, advanced stats reveal that it's the third straight season he's averaged exactly 10.7 points per 36 minutes.
Regardless how you look at it, that's disappointing offensive numbers for a former top-five pick.
While Okoro, 22, is theoretically young enough to turn things around, I wouldn't count on that opportunity arising in Cleveland. The Cavaliers don't seem interested in using him all that much, made evident by his going from averaging 32.4 minutes as a rookie to 29.6 as a sophomore to just 21.7 in 2022-23.
On top of that, the Cavaliers and Okoro failed to reach a contract extension by Monday's deadline, meaning the former Tiger will become a restricted free agent at the end of the year. Unless he completely turns things around, expect to see him in a new jersey next season.