Surprising Team Showed Trade Interest In Cleveland Cavaliers' Isaac Okoro

A surprising team expressed interesting in trading for Isaac Okoro before he re-signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Mar 27, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro (35) with a reverse layup against the Charlotte Hornets during the first quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers finally agreed to terms with Isaac Okoro on Saturday, signing the swingman to a three-year, $38 million deal.

However, prior to the Cavaliers re-signing Okoro, there were a couple of teams interested in trading for the former No. 5 overall pick, via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

One team was the Brooklyn Nets, who were long speculated as a potential destination for Okoro in the event of a sign-and-trade.

But the other club that expressed interest was a bit of a surprise: the Charlotte Hornets.

While the Nets, Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons were always viewed as a possible landing spots for Okoro, the Hornets' interest comes out of left field.

But in a vacuum, it does make sense.

Charlotte is in need of talent across the board, and it clearly wanted to address the wing spots this summer considering it landed Josh Green from the Dallas Mavericks in a multi-team deal.

Plus, Okoro is known for his defensive prowess, and the Hornets were the worst defensive team in the NBA last season.

What exactly Charlotte would have offered Cleveland in return is not clear, but whatever it was, the Cavs obviously did not find it all that enticing.

Okoro's trade market was thin all offseason, and the Cavaliers evidently felt that re-signing him was actually their best bet moving forward.

The 23-year-old played in 69 games last year, averaging 9.4 points and three rebounds over 27.3 minutes a night on 49.0/39.1/67.9 shooting splits. Okoro's numbers then plummeted in the playoffs, when he logged 5.5 points per game while posting a true-shooting percentage of 44.6 percent.