The Cleveland Cavaliers surveyed what is expected to be a down East next season and see their opportunity. With that, they are looking for roster upgrades, pushing all their chips in on a 64-win team that learned some hard lessons in the playoffs.
Cleveland found one upgrade on Sunday: Trading Isaac Okoro to the Chicago Bulls for Lonzo Ball, a trade broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and quickly confirmed by other reporters. This is a straight-up trade of two players, no draft picks or other compensation moving between the teams.
If Ball can stay healthy, this is a win and an upgrade for Cleveland on the court. The versatile and gritty guard averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists a game in 22 minutes a night off the bench last season, but the counting stats undersell the kind of little winning plays he makes. Ball is a smart facilitator who knows how to run an offense, he shot 36.6% on 3-pointers, and is also a solid defender.
The concern is health. Ball returned last season after missing more than two full seasons and undergoing three knee surgeries. Ball’s minutes have to be limited. He played in just 35 games last season, averaging 22 minutes per night. However, Chicago trusted his health enough to sign him to a two-year, $20 million contract extension that kicks in next season (the second year of that, 2026-27, is a team option).
Bringing in Ball suggests that Cleveland is not bringing back free agent Ty Jerome. This is somewhat of a cost issue, with this trade the Cavaliers are about $8.9 million over the dreaded second apron and have four roster spots still to fill.
For Chicago, Okoro fits the mold of young players (24) with experience that the team is trying to bring in, veteran NBA writer K.C. Johnson notes. Okoro likely comes off the bench on the wing, playing minutes behind Coby White/Josh Giddey (whichever you consider the two guard) and Ayo Dosunmu. Okoro was not a favorite of new Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson last season and his minutes kept slipping, to the point that even in the playoffs when Darius Garland (toe) and De’Andre Hunter (thumb) were injured, Atkinson didn’t really call Okoro’s number. He averaged 6.1 points a game, mostly coming off the bench for less than 20 minutes a night. When selected No. 5 overall the hope in Cleveland was that Okoro would fill the team’s need on the wing, but he never developed into that player. He’s a quality wing defender, but his offense has been inconsistent and not what the Cavaliers needed, and it hasn’t been enough to keep him on the court. Chicago is making the bet that in their system, playing off White and Giddey, Okoro will live up to his potential.
Financially, this trade hard caps the Bulls at the first apron, but that’s more of a technicality than a concern. Chicago is $54 million under that cap number with just a couple of roster spots to fill, plus they have to re-sign Josh Giddey. That hard cap should not be an issue.
