CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cavs’ acquisition of Lonzo Ball for Isaac Okoro addresses a playoff problem that has haunted the team for years: While Okoro’s defensive prowess was never in question, his offensive limitations repeatedly forced him out of the rotation when games mattered most.
Cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter Chris Fedor explained the dilemma after the trade Saturday on the Wine and Gold Talk podcast with host Ethan Sands:
“It became really, really difficult for Kenny Atkinson or even JB Bickerstaff previously to play Isaac in a playoff environment because teams just ignored him, because teams didn’t respect his offense, because it congested the floor,” Fedor said. “It made the Cavs play four-on-five on the offensive end, and it was just really, really difficult for them to scheme around that.”
Enter Lonzo Ball, a 6-foot-6 guard whose combination of defensive acumen, playmaking ability, and improved shooting directly addresses Cleveland’s postseason shortcomings.
Despite injury concerns, Ball’s skill set fills multiple voids in the Cavaliers’ rotation, Fedor said.
“Lonzo for them made a lot of sense. He’s a really good defender as well,” Fedor said. “And I talked on a previous podcast, Ethan, about comparing Lonzo to (the Thunder’s) Alex Caruso. And I’m not talking about exactly the style matching, but get him into a situation where it’s a winning environment and you can feel the impact on a nightly basis.”
Ball’s addition also addresses one of Cleveland’s most glaring weaknesses: the defensive limitations of their undersized backcourt.
Sands emphasized this advantage: “So now you have a defensive stopper on that end of the floor who can also help on the offensive end, take the ball out of Donovan Mitchell’s hands and create for everybody around him. One of the best assets of Lonzo Ball is his speed and his passing.”
Beyond his individual skills, Ball is another indication of the strategic shift toward the modern, up-tempo offensive style that Atkinson wants to implement.
“The Cavs want a more modern, up-tempo, high paced offense. That’s Lonzo,” Fedor explained. “They want more spacing and shooting and more volume around Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, all these different guys.”
Perhaps most importantly, Ball gives Cleveland something they’ve desperately needed—a playoff-viable option off the bench. While Okoro repeatedly found himself unplayable in postseason series, Ball’s versatility should translate to meaningful playoff minutes.
“I think this is definitely an improvement for the Cavs,” Fedor said. “I think this is an upgrade for the Cavs and again, I don’t think it’s about the 82-game season.
“I think it’s about competing for a championship, and you can see a pathway to playoff-level success for Lonzo in a way that you can’t or a way that you haven’t with Isaac.”
For more insights on the trade, listen to the full Wine and Gold Talk podcast with Ethan Sands and Chris Fedor.
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Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Wine and Gold Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.