Tag: Isaac Okoro

Twitter reacts to Isaac Okoro getting drafted 5th overall by Cleveland Cavaliers

Twitter was on fire after former Auburn star Isaac Okoro was drafted fifth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

ISAAC OKORO HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN DRAFTED 5TH OVERALL BY THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS!

You all know what this means, in addition to being fans of the Orlando Magic we must now become fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers as well. The timeline went absolutely bananas when the news broke. Here’s how it began (WOJ BOMB SPOILER ALERT)!

And then it became official:

Side note: Bruce Pearl appears to have given an interview on the side of the road.

 

Just kidding, it was a parking lot. Still hilarious.

War Eagle! If anyone asks we have all been lifelong Cavalier fans (and Magic fans too). Congratulations Isaac!

BREAKING: Isaac Okoro selected with 5th overall pick by Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020 NBA Draft

The one-and-done Auburn star becomes the eighth player in program history to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.

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Isaac Okoro will be a Cleveland Cavalier

The former Auburn star was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Cavs on Wednesday night in the 2020 NBA Draft, becoming the highest pick from the program since Chris Morris (4th overall) in 1988. Okoro also becomes the eighth first-round pick in Auburn history.

It also marks the first time that Auburn players have been picked in the first round in back-to-back drafts after Chuma Okeke was selected with the 16th overall pick by the Orlando Magic last year.

In his freshman and only year with the Tigers, Okoro finished second on the team with 12.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game and was Bruce Pearl’s best defender, someone who could guard four different positions.

Jeff Goodman of Stadium stated last week that “there may not be a better defender in this year’s NBA Draft” of Okoro while Pearl compared his former star to three-time NBA champion Andre Iguodala.

The scouting report from The Rookie Wire:

Isaac Okoro is going to have a lot of fans in front offices because he is likely the best perimeter defender in this draft. Okoro shot 67.8% at the rim as a freshman, and the majority of those attempts were unassisted. He has been capable of creating his own offense on post-up attempts, isolation looks, ball handling in transition and putbacks. The biggest concern with Okoro is that fewer than 20% of his field goals were from beyond five feet of the basket. If he is able to expand his game to score beyond the restricted area, he can be an incredibly useful player in the NBA.

2020 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0: Final update ranking Top 100 prospects

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

Originally scheduled for June, the ongoing pandemic pushed the big night back by five months. While this may cause some teams to overthink their decisions, it gave analysts plenty of time to study all of the top prospects eligible in this class.

This year, players had to participate in a mostly virtual pre-draft process. On the bright side, this meant that teams had the opportunity to interview more candidates than ever before.

However, the number of in-person visits were incredibly limited due to the restrictive parameters set by the league. Similarly, the NBA draft combine was conducted without the typical scrimmages where players can separate themselves from the others with impressive on-court performances.

Overall, the players that stood out in this pre-draft process had a different path to recognition than any other year. College basketball players did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves during March Madness. The nation’s top seniors did not get to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

As such, executives will rely mostly on the existing game footage as well as the intel they gathered during their conversations with the prospects. We also depended on similar strategies, getting access to one-on-one interviews with more than three dozen prospects and exchanging our thoughts with various scouts across the league.

This helped us put together our final big board, looking at the Top 100 players ranked on their potential to make a difference for teams in the NBA.

Relevant statistics were pulled from Synergy Sports Tech, Bart-Torvik, KenPom, Open Look Analytics and RealGM. Note that the age listed for each player references how old they will be on the night of the draft.

Are the Celtics trying to trade up for Auburn forward Isaac Okoro?

There are rumbles that Auburn’s Isaac Okoro could be a sleeper target for the Boston Celtics if they decide to trade up in the 2020 draft.

The Boston Celtics might just have their eyes on an especially stellar defender as their primary target of the 2020 NBA draft, according to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney.

Along with shooting and backup point guard needs, wing depth is among the Celtics’ greatest needs — and if rumors of veteran forward Gordon Hayward potentially wanting out of Boston end up materializing, it could surge to the most urgent need the team has.

So with that in mind, Deveney’s sources suggestion that the Celtics may be looking to Auburn wing Isaac Okoro to fill it.

At first glance, it might be easy to dismiss as potential “silly season” rumors designed to throw opposing GMs off the scent of the actual plan.

But, depending on how things pan out elsewhere with Boston, it very well may be one of several lead options for the Celtics to trade up after.

To date however, the Auburn product shared on Wednesday that he has not yet met with Boston.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the team has no plans to work out with him with most of a week still left ahead of the November 18th draft though, pending the outcome of other moving parts.

With only 10 total in-person workouts per club allowed, Boston may be saving a few of them to use on prospects closer to draft day, when they’ve had more time to work though what players like Hayward and Enes Kanter may be planning with regards to free agency.

Okoro’s lack of shooting prowess is unlikely to excite fans still smarting from the bench’s inability to score in the postseason, but he is able to guard effectively 1-4 with decent handles and passing who finishes well.

He’s also very young at 19 years old, and while his shot needs a massive overhaul without encouraging signs from the free throw line (he shot 67.4% from the stripe in his sole NCAA season), he could still develop that aspect of his game.

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Jeff Goodman on Isaac Okoro: ‘There may not be a better defender in this year’s NBA Draft’

Isaac Okoro was a one-and-done star for Auburn last season, finishing second on the Tigers with 12.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Isaac Okoro knows defense, that is for sure, and Jeff Goodman, a basketball analyst for Stadium, knows what he sees in the former Auburn star.

“There may not be a better defender in this year’s NBA Draft,” Goodman said.

Okoro, who finished second on the Tigers last season with 12.9 points and 4.4 rebounds, was a menace defensively, often guarding the opponent’s best offensive player and being responsible for keeping them in check.

“The 6-foot-6 Georgia native can guard multiple positions and is terrific in the open court,” Goodman continued.

There has never been a question of if Okoro can guard. The only question for him going into the NBA Draft is his mid-range jump shot. Okoro, speaking to the media this week, said it has improved vastly.

“I would say during the college season it was probably like a C+,” Okoro said of his jumper. “But I feel like right now I’ve been working every day just putting up a lot of shots and I feel like right now it’s around a B+ / A.

“Just taking more time with my jump shot, just being more fluid with it. Just learning how to get the ball higher. During the college season I shot a lot of flat balls, so I’m just learning right now to shoot that high and get a higher arc on it.”

The 2020 NBA Draft takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Auburn’s Isaac Okoro has worked out for the Golden State Warriors during pre-draft process

Auburn freshman Isaac Okoro has joined the list of prospects to work out for the Golden State Warriors during the NBA’s pre-draft process.

Throughout the draft process, the Golden State Warriors have been on hand for workouts featuring some of the top prospects in the 2020 class.

Along with players like James Wiseman, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and Deni Avdija, Auburn’s Isaac Okoro has been added to Golden State’s list of draft workouts.

In a pre-draft zoom call with reporters, the SEC All-Freshman forward mentioned the Golden State Warriors as a team he’s worked out for during the draft process. Along with the Warriors, Okoro said he’s worked out for the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Via @anthonyVslater on Twitter:

 

During his only season with Bruce Pearl at Auburn, the 6-foot-6 forward averaged 12.9 points on 51.4% shooting from the field with 4.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per contest.

Although he could use time to develop his offensive repertoire, Okoro would immediately provide Steve Kerr’s rotation a much-needed jolt of athleticism. The 19-year-old is a fierce defender that could learn from Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. While he grows on both ends of the floor, Okoro could get experience in Golden State’s second unit with Eric Paschall.

While it could be a surprise if he comes off the board with the second pick, Okoro could be a name to watch if Bob Myers and Kerr decide to move down with a trade on draft night.

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Report: Isaac Okoro believed to have a draft promise from a team

Auburn Tigers forward Isaac Okoro is rumored to have received a promise ahead of the NBA draft on Nov. 18.

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Ahead of the NBA draft, former Auburn Tigers forward Isaac Okoro has earned interest from several teams selecting within the lottery and is even rumored to have received a promise from one of those organizations.

According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, speaking on the “Wine and Gold Talk” podcast, the belief among multiple executives is that Okoro has a promise but it is not known which team it came from. The speculation began once he backed out of participating in the NBA draft combine.

I talked to multiple executives over the last couple of days, and this isn’t confirmed, but there is a belief that Isaac Okoro has a promise. Nobody knows who that promise came from but there is a belief that Isaac Okoro has a promise and that’s why he shut down things at the NBA combine. He was scheduled to participate in interviews at the NBA combine, it got rescheduled once and then it got completely canceled.

Okoro is widely projected to be selected in the 6-10 range following a strong season with the Tigers. He was named to the All-SEC Second Team after averaging 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and two assists and is considered to be one of the best defensive players in the draft. He also projects to be a strong offensive player inside the paint.

The New York Knicks are one of the teams that have done a great deal of homework on Okoro and could target him with the eighth pick. Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said last month the Knicks have talked to quite a few coaches and trainers within the program to gain as much intel as possible on Okoro, though that isn’t uncommon ahead of the draft.

Of course, with just over one week to go until the NBA draft, the rumor mill will undoubtedly be active as teams make final preparations to better angle toward finding their guy.

The NBA draft is scheduled to begin on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN.

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Hoops Hype compares Isaac Okoro to a couple of NBA all-stars

Isaac Okoro is expected to be a top-10 pick in next week’s NBA draft.

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We are just more than a week from the 2020 NBA Draft and Auburn one-and-done star Isaac Okoro will finally figure out where he will be playing professionally.

Over at USA TODAY Sports Hoops Hype, the NBA writers have broken down each prospect by their player comparison to current guys in the NBA. For Okoro, it couldn’t get much better.

The Powder Springs, Ga. native’s comparisons including Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala and Justise Winslow.

From Hoops Hype:

“Auburn’s Isaac Okoro is a defensive-oriented wing physically built like Jimmy Butler. He is an uber-athlete, known for his intensiveness and his tenacity and his speed. His college coach Bruce Pearl has compared Okoro to Iguodala due to his ability to impact the game. He still needs to round out his game to score beyond five feet of the basket, though, which will be an essential element for him to have success in the league.”

Butler, a 2011 first-round pick out of Marquette, is a five-time NBA All-Star, made the All-NBA third-team three times and has earned a spot on the NBA All-Defensive Team second team four times.

Okoro is definitely a fierce defender as, as a freshman for Auburn during the 2019-20 season, he was responsible for the opponent’s best offensive player on most nights. He finished second on the Tigers with 12.9 points and 4.4 rebounds and is expected to be a top-10 pick in the upcoming draft.

NBA draft: Player comparisons for projected first-rounders

One of the most compelling ways to quickly study any draft class is to look at the NBA comparisons for all of the prospects available.

One of the most compelling ways to quickly study any draft class is to look at the NBA comparisons for all of the prospects available.

Now that the 2020 NBA draft is less than two weeks ago, all of the folks looking for a crash course in learning more about the players that will be available for selection can use this as a guide for the potential outlook of each projected first-round draft pick.

This exercise is far from foolproof, of course, considering that outcomes for each prospect will depend heavily on the teams that draft them as well as the roles they are given and the development process that surrounds them.

But this does give a sense of the archetype that each top prospect fits in so casual fans can get a more succinct view of the next generation entering the league.

While our own opinion was also included, we also studied comparison models and surveyed other experts, including conversations with NBA scouts around the league, to give the best context available. The results included were the most common responses.

NOTE: All comparisons pulled from NBADraftcomp.herokuapp.com are based on statistics per 40 minutes. 

2020 NBA aggregate mock draft 8.0: Draft day ranges for top prospects

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done. 

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done.

We looked at mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Stadium, SI.com, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire, USA Today and Yahoo to give us a more clear understanding of consensus rankings and projections.

This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.

Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.

The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.