Cleveland Cavaliers held in-person workout with Isaac Okoro, who says it would be ‘awesome’ to play with high – cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Cavaliers, who hold the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, had their closeup with swingman Isaac Okoro last week.

Okoro spoke about the in-person workout during a Zoom interview with media members on Wednesday. A league source confirmed the timing to cleveland.com.

Along with the Cavaliers, Okoro, considered the best wing defender in the draft, has worked out for the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves — the two teams sitting atop the draft board.

During what has become a longer-than-expected pre-draft process, Okoro has also interviewed with a handful of organizations, including the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks. The draft, once scheduled for June and then October before being moved once more because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held virtually on Nov. 18.

“I feel what separates me from everybody else in the draft is my willingness to win, my willingness to help a team win by coming in and playing my role,” Okoro said. “Just coming in and having that defensive presence, being able to guard the other team’s best player and shutting them down.”

In his workout with the Cavs last week, which took place on the Auburn campus where Okoro became a one-year star and has continued his training, Okoro believes he displayed an underrated offensive package.

“I feel like they came in thinking offense was one of my weaknesses but they left knowing that it’s actually one of my strengths,” Okoro said, acknowledging the criticism that stems from his low shooting percentages.

In his one year at Auburn, Okoro shot 28.6% from 3-point range and below 70% from the foul line. He has spent the last few months sharpening all aspects of his game — ball-handling, shooting and defensive slides — but the hours in the gym tweaking his shooting form alongside Auburn assistant coach Ira Bowman have started to pay off.

“During the season, I feel like I shot a lot of flat balls and right now I’m getting used to getting it higher, with more arc on it,” Okoro said. “I would say during the college season (my shot) was probably a C-plus. Right now, I feel like I’ve been working every day and it’s probably around a B-plus or an A.”

When asked about his best NBA position, Okoro said small forward, which would make him an ideal fit for the wing-needy Cavs. Over the last two years, Cleveland has used first-round picks on guards Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and Kevin Porter Jr. Okoro knows Sexton well. They’re from the Atlanta area and played against each other in high school.

“Both of us are competitors, so having us two competitors on the same team would honestly be awesome,” Okoro said.

According to multiple sources, Okoro remains one of the players in the No. 5 mix. There are others as well, as the Cavs continue to do their due diligence on what has been labeled a weak class.

From the very beginning, the Cavs believed in-person workouts would be an important part of the process. Once the league finally lifted travel restrictions, the Cavs made multiple stops across the country. On Oct. 27, they visited with Dayton’s Obi Toppin. They also met with Israeli swingman Deni Avdija — who has been working out in Atlanta but wouldn’t reveal any other details of his workouts with teams — combo guard RJ Hampton and USC big man Onyeka Okongwu, who is in Los Angeles.