Chuma Okeke drafted #16 by the Orlando Magic

[basketballRob]

Not a good comparison, but Anthony Bennett.

Kevin Love.

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Love is 6'9

He always looked 6'7" to me.

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[spinedoc]

By the way, when is a 6-7 230lb pf ever a top ten pick?

I was going to say Barkley but he was only like 6'5". Maybe Zion Williamson.

Not a good comparison, but Anthony Bennett.

Measuring 6-7 in shoes at the Nike Hoop Summit eight months ago (and at the 2011 LeBron James Skills Academy), Bennett is somewhat undersized for a power forward, but makes up for that with his 7-1 wingspan, strong 239 pound frame, and excellent athleticism.

6-8, 245, and Steven A. Smith's biggest draft bust of all time, lol. And Love, 245 and 6-10. Don't dare mention AG, its my main criticism of him. He's the poster child right now for me. Keep trying.

[basketballRob]

I was going to say Barkley but he was only like 6'5". Maybe Zion Williamson.

Not a good comparison, but Anthony Bennett.

Measuring 6-7 in shoes at the Nike Hoop Summit eight months ago (and at the 2011 LeBron James Skills Academy), Bennett is somewhat undersized for a power forward, but makes up for that with his 7-1 wingspan, strong 239 pound frame, and excellent athleticism.

6-8, 245, and Steven A. Smith's biggest draft bust of all time, lol. And Love, 245 and 6-10. Don't dare mention AG, its my main criticism of him. He's the poster child right now for me. Keep trying.

Love isn't 6'10"

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[ORL_on_FIRE]

Was he on crutches? I missed nearly the whole thing because I was waiting on Facebook live which ended up not working.

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He wasn't invited to Green Room, IIRC.

I'm talking about the press conference at 3.

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He didn't have any crutches just a knee brace during the presser.

[basketballRob]

Not a good comparison, but Anthony Bennett.

6-8, 245, and Steven A. Smith's biggest draft bust of all time, lol. And Love, 245 and 6-10. Don't dare mention AG, its my main criticism of him. He's the poster child right now for me. Keep trying.

Love isn't 6'10"

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Well I guess you're right he's 6'7.75" without shoes. I think Okeke will be a small forward some of the time. Kevin Love would never be able to play any minutes at the 3.

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[basketballRob]

Is the full press conference up anywhere?

It's at Orlandomagic.com now and it looks like they just released the summer league schedule.

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[OrlandO]

Watch on YouTube

[Bakomagic]

Is the full press conference up anywhere?

It's at Orlandomagic.com now and it looks like they just released the summer league schedule.

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Nice....I’ll be making my annual Vegas summer league trip, but I may have to skip the magic games this year with there being no picks from this year playing.

Excited to see Zion and some of the other highly anticipated rookies though.

[jayrehme]

Watch on YouTube

Okeke: "My teammates, my family, my trainers"
"tell us about you"
Okeke: "well my teammates, my family.."

...sounds like a very unselfish, hard working, high character, team player... could become a silent leader

[MartinsIzAfraud]

So absolutely hate Weltman explaining/rationalizing his pick by saying well “we had a GM picking behind us saying he would’ve taken him so we took him at 16”. Weltman also went on to say they had plenty of trade back calls but they were worried they’d trade back too far.


Seems like a convenient excuse now that he’s seen said reaction by fans etc etc.

[The Effect]

Watch on YouTube

Okeke: "My teammates, my family, my trainers"
"tell us about you"
Okeke: "well my teammates, my family.."

...sounds like a very unselfish, hard working, high character, team player... could become a silent leader

I know this is going to sound bad but.....Not very happy about that answer. Sad to say, but we are severely lacking a true, take-charge alpha male personality on this team. Sure its not really a rookies place to be that guy, but kinda sucks that we still dont have one

Seems like we have a team full of nice, fun loving guys who are all looking for their leader.

Again, i wasnt expect HIM to be that, just was hoping it was something we could add to this team at some point this off season

[RookieStar]

By the way, when is a 6-7 230lb pf ever a top ten pick?

I mean I don’t understand why he is classified as a of he is a sf but keep bitching about position when literally everyone in the league is saying positions don’t matter

Here is what I see. 6-7 means sf, 230lbs means pf. Too small to play the four and too big and slow to play wing. We call that a tweener.

6'7 230 coming into the league? Isnt that Lebron? lol

No one calls Lbj or Kawhi a PF when they have those exact measurements lol

( i'm only half joking)

[jayrehme]

Watch on YouTube

Okeke: "My teammates, my family, my trainers"
"tell us about you"
Okeke: "well my teammates, my family.."

...sounds like a very unselfish, hard working, high character, team player... could become a silent leader

I know this is going to sound bad but.....Not very happy about that answer. Sad to say, but we are severely lacking a true, take-charge alpha male personality on this team. Sure its not really a rookies place to be that guy, but kinda sucks that we still dont have one

Seems like we have a team full of nice, fun loving guys who are all looking for their leader.

Again, i wasnt expect HIM to be that, just was hoping it was something we could add to this team at some point this off season

Ignore the "alpha" stereotype... he leads by example FOR his teammates (family). He doesn't lack confidence.

[SOUL]

So absolutely hate Weltman explaining/rationalizing his pick by saying well “we had a GM picking behind us saying he would’ve taken him so we took him at 16”. Weltman also went on to say they had plenty of trade back calls but they were worried they’d trade back too far.


If that isn’t the definition of a reach IDK what is. Don’t give me this BPA BS anymore. Okeke was a reach and now we’ve gotta hope it works out.

'

It's a reach because of his injury, not because of talent. Even the bad grades (draft grades are dumb anyway, good and bad) acknowledge where he would've been taken before the injury. So I'm not sure how what he said makes that any less or more true. If several teams were debating if they wanted to choose him at 20, taking him at 16 isn't a reach because we can't assume the front office has some sort of secret intel about who the teams after them will pick if they traded back. Imagine they traded to 22-26 or something and Chuma was taken by the Spurs or something. Then the FO is forced to pick a guy they weren't as high on.

[EasternMagic]

So absolutely hate Weltman explaining/rationalizing his pick by saying well “we had a GM picking behind us saying he would’ve taken him so we took him at 16”. Weltman also went on to say they had plenty of trade back calls but they were worried they’d trade back too far.


If that isn’t the definition of a reach IDK what is. Don’t give me this BPA BS anymore. Okeke was a reach and now we’ve gotta hope it works out.

'

It's a reach because of his injury, not because of talent. Even the bad grades (draft grades are dumb anyway, good and bad) acknowledge where he would've been taken before the injury. So I'm not sure how what he said makes that any less or more true. If several teams were debating if they wanted to choose him at 20, taking him at 16 isn't a reach because we can't assume the front office has some sort of secret intel about who the teams after them will pick if they traded back. Imagine they traded to 22-26 or something and Chuma was taken by the Spurs or something. Then the FO is forced to pick a guy they weren't as high on.

Weltman got his guy where he wanted him. Trading back to add a second rounder or some cash obviously doesn't move the needle enough. I'm totally fine with where he was picked.

[Skin]

I'm not expecting Chuma to be a star player, but he definitely could be a $20M per year guy some day, and adding another solid impact player is a great get at 16. He's gonna fit in great in a rotation with Isaac and Gordon at SF and PF because all 3 are versatile enough to play both positions. Our bases are covered if we face injury, and health was a big reason for our success last year. Each of these guys have their own strengths and weaknesses... it's gonna be fun to watch. This is an addition that doesn't overwrite any existing player or make them feel threatened. Especially with his humble personality and family oriented mindset. This is building a healthy culture.

I tend to be a need over bpa guy when it comes to the draft and I thought Thybulle and Porter were great candidates for us to fill both values... but in this case, this wasn't a BPA (by the media's pov) or need (in terms of position), but this was WBPA.... WeHam's Best Player Available. Love that nobody (not even Sham or Woj) knew who we were gonna take... Love that it was a bold decision that showed the inner strength and condifence that they have in their own analytic belief system, and don't simply follow media mock drafters.

They keep saying with each of their acquisitions, whether Isaac, Bamba, Fultz, Okeke that they are going to let them go through the process. Maybe one day we will all start to believe them. WeHam is operating as if they have long term security. They are not going to rush the process. This mindset shouldn't lead anyone to believe that we will approach the draft based on immediate need. As much as we might crave immediate success... they have a different agenda in mind. One that seems set on building a mosiac piece by piece.

Nick Nurse said it... they won the championship based on "defense and unselfishness"... the Magic are on their way to getting there piece by piece.

[EasternMagic]

So absolutely hate Weltman explaining/rationalizing his pick by saying well “we had a GM picking behind us saying he would’ve taken him so we took him at 16”. Weltman also went on to say they had plenty of trade back calls but they were worried they’d trade back too far.


Seems like a convenient excuse now that he’s seen said reaction by fans etc etc.

From Denton. No one scared Weltman into picking Okeke. Weltman picked him then found out a rival GM was eying him.
"A rival Eastern Con GM called the Orlando Magic front office on Friday to congratulate them on drafting former Auburn F Chuma Okeke. The Magic were told that if they hadn't picked Okeke that that team was planning to grab him, according to a source close to the situation."

[WillyJakkz]

Said it earlier Okeke is practically a 6'7" Al Horford, not ideal for us.

And the notion of drafting another young PF to serve as a backup is ludicrous when we could address other positions. Too many young guys at that spot for us unless we went with Bol who has the best potential of them all. Go big or go home if you get an injured guy if that's the case.

FA is where we should've gotten a backup PF who we all see as a backup vs the draft.

[SOUL]

Said it earlier Okeke is practically a 6'7" Al Horford, not ideal for us.

And the notion of drafting another young PF to serve as a backup is ludicrous when we could address other positions. Too many young guys at that spot for us unless we went with Bol who has the best potential of them all. Go big or go home if you get an injured guy if that's the case.

FA is where we should've gotten a backup PF who we all see as a backup vs the draft.

If we get a 6'7 Al Horford on the roster even if we had 8 PFs at pick 16, I'm stoked.

[pepe1991]

It feels like whole "masterplan" of Weltman and Hammond is just staling rebuild. Until somebody gets tired of their old a***s and fires them.

Evil in me tells me that i would do the same, being in 60s i would just stale and prolong things until i fill enough pockets to safe retirment.

Not saying that is what they are doing but... not gonna act like that didn't cross my mind couple of times in last year and half.

I mean :
Isaac- injury through rookie year
Bamba- injury through rookie year, sit out half of season
Trade for injuried player- sit out whoel season
Okeke, torn ACL , out for whole seasaon

It's kind a obvious that they collect players that have zero chance to contribute right away due injuries or lack of skill.
And we are entering third season with Hammon and Weltman.

Not to mention that if Vuc and Ross walk, they will just ride " now we need to tank " excuse for additional 2,3 years.