Is it time we discuss Isaac Okoro?

[Indomitable]

which of lonzo's 9 made baskets on the season stood out to you the most

His ability to actually make great passes. Noskoro is here because Lonzo can not stay healthy and Tre does his job now.

[Indomitable]

He looks like a bad player to me. Can't shoot, tunnel vision, lack of size. He's the next David Nwaba.

Nwaba was better and was explosive. He messed his knee up and never cameback. He was not the clumsy reck Noskoro is.

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[rosenthall]

From what I've seen of him so far, I'm regretting the trade to get him. Not because Lonzo is so great, but because I'd rather have 11m of extra cap space this offseason than his contract going into next year. He's a good defender, but he screams 18 MPG roleplayer to me. It sure doesn't seem like he gives you anything in the ballhandling, playmaking, iso-scoring or shooting departments. And I've actually been disappointed with his off-ball game.

Guys like him need to have some Ronnie Brewer in their game, and be able to gobble up 4 points a night off of backdoor cuts and opportunistic 50/50 plays, but he hasn't flashed that so far. He'll be helpful on the nights when he gives us the right defensive matchup, like against Detroit. But I'm not seeing a lynchpin rotation piece that puts you over.

[eierluke]

On ESPN
Okoro is listed at 6'4
Ayo is listed at 6'4

I believe that Ayo is the superior offensive player in every aspect of the game (passing, shooting, slashing, ...).

Is there anything Okoro is superior to Ayo on the defensive end?
If not why playing Okoro anymore once Coby is back?

[sco]

On ESPN
Okoro is listed at 6'4
Ayo is listed at 6'4

I believe that Ayo is the superior offensive player in every aspect of the game (passing, shooting, slashing, ...).

Is there anything Okoro is superior to Ayo on the defensive end?
If not why playing Okoro anymore once Coby is back?

First, I'll be optimistic that Coby comes back the calendar year. That said, it's the Bulls, guys never seem to come back on schedule. If we keep playing well, I could see them taking an extra month of precaution.

When Coby comes back (and Collins), I'd look at rotation like:

Giddey 30, Jones 18
White 30, Ayo 14, Jones 4
Okoro20, Huerter 21, Ayo 6
Matas 30, PWill 18
Vuc 24, Collins 24

We all talk about Okoro's offense, but I still expect that he'll get back to his historical averages by the ASB. As the starter, he is the 5th option, and I think we just need him to make open shots (no guarantee, but I'd give him the chance to figure it out again). I really like a rotation with Jones/Ayo/Huerter/Pat/Collins. If he can't, I'd shift Jones to the 5th starting spot and have him pick-up 5 more minutes.

[eierluke]

On ESPN
Okoro is listed at 6'4
Ayo is listed at 6'4

I believe that Ayo is the superior offensive player in every aspect of the game (passing, shooting, slashing, ...).

Is there anything Okoro is superior to Ayo on the defensive end?
If not why playing Okoro anymore once Coby is back?

First, I'll be optimistic that Coby comes back the calendar year. That said, it's the Bulls, guys never seem to come back on schedule. If we keep playing well, I could see them taking an extra month of precaution.

When Coby comes back (and Collins), I'd look at rotation like:

Giddey 30, Jones 18
White 30, Ayo 14, Jones 4
Okoro20, Huerter 21, Ayo 6
Matas 30, PWill 18
Vuc 24, Collins 24

We all talk about Okoro's offense, but I still expect that he'll get back to his historical averages by the ASB. As the starter, he is the 5th option, and I think we just need him to make open shots (no guarantee, but I'd give him the chance to figure it out again). I really like a rotation with Jones/Ayo/Huerter/Pat/Collins. If he can't, I'd shift Jones to the 5th starting spot and have him pick-up 5 more minutes.

First, I have no doubts that Okoro (if healthy) will improve his poor shoooting numbers up to his career average.
My question however is wheather that should be enough to hand out playing time to him, since if all are healthy we do have 5 guys, who to me are more worth to get playing time at 1, 2, 3 spots (Giddey, White, Ayo, Huerter, Jones).
I can follow the tactic that since we miss Cobys offensive game, Donovan brings Ayo from the bench.
But when Coby is back, it comes down to me: what can Okoro do that Ayo can't?

[dougthonus]

First, I have no doubts that Okoro (if healthy) will improve his poor shoooting numbers up to his career average.
My question however is wheather that should be enough to hand out playing time to him, since if all are healthy we do have 5 guys, who to me are more worth to get playing time at 1, 2, 3 spots (Giddey, White, Ayo, Huerter, Jones).
I can follow the tactic that since we miss Cobys offensive game, Donovan brings Ayo from the bench.
But when Coby is back, it comes down to me: what can Okoro do that Ayo can't?

He's the best defender on the team, and he's physical on the perimeter in a way Ayo isn't. He rarely makes mistakes on offense either (like compare him to Patrick Williams who just dribbles into turnovers constantly). Dalen Terry played ~14m a game last year, and Okoro is way better in that role than Terry is.

I don't know that he's a 20 mpg guy when Coby is back, but we do need his skillset on the roster, and Pat / Ayo have rarely stayed healthy as well, so he's a good depth piece.

In terms of cap room next year, look at the FA class, we aren't going to do anything with cap room next year. FWIW, I'd have been fine not making this trade, but I think it does help the roster this year and has no meaningful negative impact now or in the future if he stays healthy.

[sco]

First, I have no doubts that Okoro (if healthy) will improve his poor shoooting numbers up to his career average.
My question however is wheather that should be enough to hand out playing time to him, since if all are healthy we do have 5 guys, who to me are more worth to get playing time at 1, 2, 3 spots (Giddey, White, Ayo, Huerter, Jones).
I can follow the tactic that since we miss Cobys offensive game, Donovan brings Ayo from the bench.
But when Coby is back, it comes down to me: what can Okoro do that Ayo can't?

He's the best defender on the team, and he's physical on the perimeter in a way Ayo isn't. He rarely makes mistakes on offense either (like compare him to Patrick Williams who just dribbles into turnovers constantly). Dalen Terry played ~14m a game last year, and Okoro is way better in that role than Terry is.

I don't know that he's a 20 mpg guy when Coby is back, but we do need his skillset on the roster, and Pat / Ayo have rarely stayed healthy as well, so he's a good depth piece.

In terms of cap room next year, look at the FA class, we aren't going to do anything with cap room next year. FWIW, I'd have been fine not making this trade, but I think it does help the roster this year and has no meaningful negative impact now or in the future if he stays healthy.

I think that if we aren't looking at a big FA signing, then we want guys like Okoro who bump our expiring assets forward a year who are productive players. I'd be trading our expirings at the deadline and see if we can pick-up some assets in exchange for taking on some other team's guys with one year remaining.

[Red Larrivee]

I'm still not concerned. Okoro has basically put up the same OK offensive production 4 seasons in a row. He's probably in the worst 5 game stretch of his career so far. He should still be in the rotation. His defense has been good. He can guard 1-3 and take on the assignment of the opponent's best scorer. Whatever amount of time he can spell our other defenders is worth it. The offense will come back around.

I'm not in favor of changing the starting lineup yet. I'd prefer Okoro to keep starting so that we aren't going to weak production off the bench. The bench has been such a big advantage for us with the way Ayo, Pat and Huerter are playing. So, whatever we can do to keep that intact, we should.

[kodo]

On ESPN
Okoro is listed at 6'4
Ayo is listed at 6'4

I believe that Ayo is the superior offensive player in every aspect of the game (passing, shooting, slashing, ...).

Is there anything Okoro is superior to Ayo on the defensive end?
If not why playing Okoro anymore once Coby is back?

I assume we made the trade because the FO wasn't planning on keeping Ayo past this season.
I've always said we should be keeping Ayo, but signing both Okoro & Tre indicates to me the AK has made up his mind on Ayo's FA.
Unless Ayo's FA price is dirt cheap, but he's not playing anything like that atm.

[GoBlue72391]

On ESPN
Okoro is listed at 6'4
Ayo is listed at 6'4

I believe that Ayo is the superior offensive player in every aspect of the game (passing, shooting, slashing, ...).

Is there anything Okoro is superior to Ayo on the defensive end?
If not why playing Okoro anymore once Coby is back?

Okoro is clearly the better defender. He's not going to keep shooting this poorly forever. If he does, he's the worst player in modern history by a wide margin. That seems unlikely to me, but what do I know.

[League Circles]

I'm not worried at all. His defense has been great and we've been winning and he hasn't been screwing up the offense. He'll improve. And if not he's only here for one more year for not much. Plus Ayo and Huerter and Patrick are all playing well. But yeah once Coby comes back things start to get complicated real quick. Obviously the minutes that Terry and Phillips have been getting should end, and I'd take the rest of Coby's minutes away from Huerter. I think Patrick and Ayo have been better.