Not much is happening in Isaac Okoro’s restricted free agency

Putting together a sign-and-trade for Okoro is proving difficult.

How the Cleveland Cavaliers will handle Isaac Okoro’s restricted free agency remains an open question. Executing a sign-and-trade is one of the ways the Cavs can potentially upgrade the roster with someone who fits better. Bobby Marks mentioned last week that Okoro could be moved this way. There’s also the possibility that the Cavs decide to simply re-sign him and roll the dice on him developing in a way he hasn’t previously.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN provided an update on the situation during his regular segment on ESPN Cleveland.

Windhorst said:

I keep asking various people about what’s going on with Isaac Okoro and there just doesn’t seem to be much. I’m sure there’s stuff happening. I’m sure there’s a negotiation happening. But I’m not aware of anything with serious traction. I know the Cavs have had some discussions with some teams about some sign-and-trades. But sign-and-trades are rough.

The Cavs have been linked to Brooklyn Nets forwards Cam Johnson and Dorrian Finney-Smith. The issue in including Okoro in a sign-and-trade for those players is that Cleveland wouldn’t be able to use the full amount of his new salary in that trade which is what makes them rough as Windhorst mentioned.

Okoro’s annual salary last season was $8.9 million. Unless the new contract he signs is for at least $17.8 million per season, then the trade would be dependent on last season’s salary. If he signs for more than $17.8 million, than the outgoing salary would count as half of the money he signed for. The most likely outcome is that his new salary would come in below which would mean that the Cavs would only be sending out $8.9 million in a trade.

This is important because it means that additional Cleveland players would need to be moved for someone like Johnson, who’s making $23.6 million next season. The Cavs front office benefited from this last season by acquiring Max Strus in a sign-and-trade that only required them to send out nearly half of Strus’s salary.

Some of Koby Altman’s most impactful deals have happened later in the offseason. Whether or not he can flip Okoro for someone remains to be seen. As of now, it appears that a resolution won’t happen in the immediate future.