Cavaliers select Isaac Okoro

  The Cleveland Cavaliers were linked to several players with the fifth pick in the first round of the NBA draft and were a main part of draft day trade rumors, but in the end, the Cavaliers returned to one of the players that they were connected to from the beginning and addressed their largest need in selecting small forward Isaac Okoro of Auburn.

The 6'6 small forward spent one season at Auburn, averaging just under thirteen points a game with 4.4 rebounds for the Tigers.

Okoro is thought of by many as the best defender in the draft with the ability to guard any player on the floor at any time and has the wingspan that you love to see from defenders off the ball.

Okoro jumps well and shows the potential to be an improved player offensively attacking the rim, but the biggest question mark is an outside jumper that needs a lot of work.

Okoro was lauded by Auburn coach Bruce Pearl as a tremendous team leader and tireless worker, which are words that aren't always heard about players that have left their school after only one season as Okoro left Auburn.

The key with Okoro will come down to the development of his outside shot.

IF Okoro can improve to an average shooter, eventually he can be a championship level player with the type of game that title contenders all crave from the supporting cast around their star.

And if he can't? Okoro will be a defensive stopper that can score some points in the open floor and he will always have value with those skills alone, if as a rotational player alone.

I don't hate the pick, I'm not sure anyone of the handful of players that were rumored to be under consideration would have caused me to be angry, but I do have concerns about a team that struggles to shoot well to add another player that doesn't shoot well.

Although the Cavaliers were the worst defensive team in the league last season, so Okoro does address that problem at least.

Isaac Okoro might not be the flashiest selection, but his floor is solid and I think he'll at least have a solid NBA career, if not a spectacular one and in a draft lacking superstar level players, Cleveland could have done worse by gambling on a higher risk player.