Cavs’ Isaac Okoro Restricted Free Agency Could Drag On Until Training Camp

Right now, all we know about the Cleveland Cavaliers and Isaac Okoro is Okoro is a restricted free agent and that the Cavs have yet to make an offer. Same goes for all the other 29 NBA teams.

So what does it mean? Not a whole lot. This is how restricted free agency often goes. The player waits for an offer. The team waits for someone else to make an offer. Then the team decides to match.

If there are no offers to be found … well, then there’s no rush. For the Cavs and Okoro, that seems to be the case as teams reset and reevaluate following the NBA Draft and free agency frenzy.

Now, it seems, everyone is just taking a step back. So the Okoro situation may not be resolved until … like, maybe September.

“Restricted free agents like Cleveland’s Isaac Okoro are playing a waiting game, hoping for an offer sheet that might not ever come and left with playing chicken against the Cavs’ front office,” wrote John Hollinger of The Athletic. “These deals can often drag until near training camp.”

Okoro has been linked to the Detroit Pistons and former Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff. Sources have told Hoops Wire that Detroit does indeed have a strong interest. Some sort of sign-and-trade could be in the works. But if so, even something like that may not happen until early in the fall.

Make no mistake, the Cavs appreciate and admire what Okoro has brought in terms of effort, defense and professionalism. He’s coming off a career season in which he averaged 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and shot a career-high 39.1% on 3-pointers.

But basketball at this level is a business, and the Cavs have to decide if Okoro is worth handcuffing them — at least slightly — in terms of the salary cap in the collective bargaining agreement.

Like it or not, that’s likely to take some time before the Cavs, Okoro and even other teams get it all figured out.