There wasn’t much Isaac Okoro wasn’t asked to do during his five seasons with Cleveland.
Start, come off the bench, guard an elite guard like a Jalen Brunson one night, and then an athletic wing like a Jaylen Brown the next.
It’s about sacrifice for the newest Bull. Always has been.
“Last year (with the Cavs), just like previous years, the goal was to win a championship and if I had to dim my role down to do that, like I’m willing to play any role to win a championship,” Okoro said. “Always the mindset I’ve had coming into the NBA.”
Just the mindset the Bulls will need this season.
In putting a bow on the preseason schedule with Thursday’s 126-120 win over Minnesota, final decisions on a starting unit and rotation will have to be ironed out before the games actually count. Coach Billy Donovan & Co. will host Detroit on Wednesday and will use the next five days to figure out a plan of attack.
Specifically, has Okoro shown enough in the games and in practices where he’s earned the nod to be a starter?
The forward was dealing with a sore knee the last few days – and the reason he left Tuesday’s Nuggets game after the first half – so was held out against the Timberwolves for precautionary reasons.
Not that Donovan needed convincing on what Okoro had shown.
“He is a guy that has come off the bench, he has started, so I feel really comfortable with him in the starting lineup or coming off the bench,” Donovan said, not wanting to be pinned down just yet. “One through four, he’s pretty much (guarded) every position, you feel comfortable with him doing that.
“As you look at trying to match up rotations and things like that, I do think we have to use the depth on this team. The one thing that’s been hard and a little challenging for us is we just have not been whole (in the preseason), and I have not been able to see as many different combinations as I would have liked to. This is a group that’s been pretty selfless and they’re comfortable starting or coming off the bench. I think in a lot of situations when you’re dealing with first-unit guys, (Okoro’s) a guy you would feel comfortable defending the other team’s best player because he’s done that.”
Translation from Billy speak?
Okoro better be prepared to start.
What Donovan and his staff want from this roster is versatility. That was on display against Minnesota when Donovan started a big lineup of Nikola Vucevic and Jalen Smith. Considering the Bulls fell behind 21-8 about seven minutes into the game, an experiment gone wrong initially.
But that doesn’t mean the concept of different starting lineups won’t be used.
“I’ve talked to these guys about it, and it’s not probably necessarily conventional just from the perspective of we’ve got to get out of the old school NBA mindset of, ‘Here’s my rotation, here’s my guys that go in the game, and here’s how many minutes they play.’ “ Donovan explained. “I just don’t know if we’re going to be able to do that. Probably over 82 games there will be a consistent group that started, but maybe some nights we have to change the starting lineup.
“In my opinion, we have to change starting lineups based on who we’re playing and what the matchups look like for us.”
So in finishing the preseason 3-2 it will now be a waiting game until Donovan makes it official, at least for Game 1.
“I expect Billy Donovan to do whatever Billy Donovan is going to do, and whatever role that is, me starting or me coming off the bench, I’m willing to do that and help this team win,” Okoro added.
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Chicago Sun-Times Chicago Bulls reporter