A summer of uncertainty has ended for former Auburn standout Isaac Okoro. The forward is staying with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the NBA team announced, after signing a three-year, $38 million contract.
Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news for ESPN before announcing he was leaving the network to become the general manager of the men’s basketball program at St. Bonaventure, his alma mater.
RELATED: ADRIAN WOJNAROWSKI RETIRING FROM ESPN, ANNOUNCES NEW JOB
The timing wasn’t lost on Okoro, who wrote on the social-media platform X: “Last Woj bomb.”
The Cavaliers also weighed in: “Congrats on an amazing career, @wojespn. We’re honored to be a part of your last Woj bomb.”
As the NBA insider for ESPN, Wojnarowski’s missives on Twitter, then X became known as Woj bombs.
Okoro entered the offseason as a restricted free agent. He could have accepted the Cavaliers’ $11.8 million qualifying offer for the 2024-25 NBA season and become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.
Instead, he sought better offers from other teams, and ultimately ended up back with the Cavaliers with a bigger contract.
The fifth pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Okoro averaged 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 69 games, with 42 starts, for Cleveland in the 2023-24 season, when he posted the best 3-point shooting rate of his career at 39.1 percent. But the Cavaliers’ value most highly Okoro’s defensive ability.
The season before Okoro joined Cleveland, the Cavaliers won 19 games. In his rookie season, Cleveland had 22 victories. But that jumped to 44 in his second season, and last season, the Cavaliers reached the Eastern Conference semifinals.
In his 279 NBA regular-season games, Okoro has averaged 8.5 points, 2.9 points and 1.7 assists.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
