CLEVELAND — The NBA isn’t brief on storylines. Bulls guard Isaac Okoro was the topic of one of many newest.
Traded in late June from the one NBA franchise he knew, guess the place Okoro discovered himself for the Bulls’ preseason opener Tuesday? Again in Cleveland, after all, the place he referred to as house for 5 seasons after being chosen No. 5 total within the 2020 draft.
‘‘A bit of little bit of blended emotions,’’ Okoro stated after the Bulls’ 118-117 victory towards the Cavaliers. ‘‘Like coming into the away locker room, I’ve by no means been there earlier than. Stepping on the court docket with the away workforce, it was undoubtedly totally different.’’
However Okoro wasn’t the one participant on this hardcourt melodrama.
In buying Okoro, the Bulls needed to half methods with guard Lonzo Ball. That’s not as straightforward as it will appear, contemplating Ball was seldom accessible throughout his tenure with the Bulls, struggling a horrific knee damage that just about value him his profession and sidelined him for 2½ seasons.
Even now, the Cavs are working with a strict plan of sustaining Ball’s well being. He performed simply lower than 12 minutes within the preseason opener, however he gained’t play in back-to-back video games to start out the season and can function with a minutes restriction.
Sound acquainted?
Then once more, the Cavs are working in a a lot totally different house than the Bulls are. They have been the highest seed within the Jap Convention playoffs final season earlier than flaming out beneath expectations within the second spherical.
They need to preserve Ball up and working for the common season, then be capable of unleash him within the playoffs. Coach Kenny Atkinson made that clear.
‘‘Actually, with [Ball] greater than anybody, our purpose with him is to have him prepared for the playoffs,’’ Atkinson stated. ‘‘There’s a cause this man was a second total decide in our league. He’s a type of guys that makes different gamers higher, which is a coach’s dream, proper?’’
Bulls coach Billy Donovan wouldn’t argue with that.
And whereas it will appear that an underlying cause for buying and selling Ball for a more healthy and extra accessible Okoro was as a result of the Bulls and Cavs are in such totally different locations, Donovan stated that wasn’t essentially the case.
‘‘After I spoke to the entrance workplace about [the trade], it was, ‘Hey, this is a chance, and what do you concentrate on Isaac?’ ’’ Donovan recalled. ‘‘I feel the commerce, for my part, was good [for both teams].
‘‘We wanted some physicality, and Isaac brings that to the desk. The place [the Cavaliers are] as a corporation now by way of attempting to make a deep playoff run, they’d some [backcourt] accidents final yr, and this shores up their backcourt a bit bit extra.’’
Okoro or not, nonetheless, what Donovan witnessed within the first 5 minutes of the primary quarter compelled him to name a timeout and didn’t precisely depart him happy.
Turnovers, dangerous fouls, an unwillingness to defend and free passes to the rim put the Bulls in an 18-6 gap and compelled Donovan to collect the troops for a heart-to-heart.
‘‘There was undoubtedly extra alternatives to be bodily on the basket,’’ Donovan stated. ‘‘I simply felt we have been continually capturing ourselves within the foot.’’
The Bulls cleaned issues up late within the recreation and pulled out the victory, however the groups will sq. off once more Thursday, this time on the United Middle.
‘‘It’s a humorous approach within the enterprise,’’ Okoro, who scored 11 factors, stated of the schedule. ‘‘However I’m on the Chicago Bulls, and I’m attempting to bust Cleveland’s ass any day.’’
The Coby White-Josh Giddey relationship is a powerful one which continues to develop on and off the court docket, but when the Bulls expect to take a step ahead within the Jap Convention it will be an enormous assist if one of many two can show to be an All-Star.
The workforce took big strides offensively final season, however that got here with a worth on the defensive finish. That’s the place the main focus has been by means of one week of coaching camp.
