Where is Jahlil Okafor?

[CoreyGallagher]

People said he lost weight based on those weird myspace type pictures he posted in the offseason/general okafor homerism but Okafor himself on media day said he actually gained weight relative to where he was before he got hurt.

He said he was at 265 on media day, was 268 at start of last season and at AS break he said he had gotten down to 255.

[mksp]

We tried to tell you guys....

Taking Okafor over Porzingis is going to go down as one of the great draft mistakes of all time.

It's so obvious that this decision was forced upon Hinkie by ownership. No way Hinkie was this dumb.

[CoreyGallagher]

I'm still hoping that he improves and performs better as the season progresses and I am also hoping that there is an ulterior reason for him performing like this to begin the season.

[phiphan]

He's the Process Era's Evan Turner. We'll all be much happier when he's traded without ceremony.

[Unbreakable99]

We tried to tell you guys....

Taking Okafor over Porzingis is going to go down as one of the great draft mistakes of all time.

It's so obvious that this decision was forced upon Hinkie by ownership. No way Hinkie was this dumb.

I disagree. I think Hinkie voluntarily drafted Okafor. Hinkie flopped and choked on that pick. Hinkie isn't infallible. Just admit he blew that pick. Regardless if Embiid was hurt at the time and there was concern he may never play, taking OKafor when we already had Noel was the worst pick Hinkie ever made. It made no sense to get a 3rd center.

[Unbreakable99]

Literally anyone should have been the pick besides Okafor. Mudiay would have been a better pick and he's been stinking up the joint. "Reaching" for Hezonja would be better. He hasn't been that good either. "Reaching" for Turner would have been better. Other "reaches" like Stanley Johnson would look better and Johnson is nothing special at all. Winslow would have been better. Trading the pick and moving back to get Booker would have been better. Literally the worst thing Hinkie could have done was drafting Okafor while we already had 1 and half centers at that time. Grrrr. Brown just needs to sit Okafor until he knows that rebounding and hustle is important. I still think Okafor has value to a team coming off the bench. His minutes just need to be limited because if he's not scoring then he's completely useless as a player on the court. Before I thought 20-24 minutes would be good. I might need to bump that down to 16-20 minutes so he stays fresh and can play at full speed at all times.

[SelfishPlayer]

Literally anyone should have been the pick besides Okafor. Mudiay would have been a better pick and he's been stinking up the joint. "Reaching" for Hezonja would be better. He hasn't been that good either. "Reaching" for Turner would have been better. Other "reaches" like Stanley Johnson would look better and Johnson is nothing special at all. Winslow would have been better. Trading the pick and moving back to get Booker would have been better. Literally the worst thing Hinkie could have done was drafting Okafor while we already had 1 and half centers at that time. Grrrr. Brown just needs to sit Okafor until he knows that rebounding and hustle is important. I still think Okafor has value to a team coming off the bench. His minutes just need to be limited because if he's not scoring then he's completely useless as a player on the court. Before I thought 20-24 minutes would be good. I might need to bump that down to 16-20 minutes so he stays fresh and can play at full speed at all times.

The way that you feel about Okafor I feel about Dario Saric. Zack Lavine is the guy I wanted the Sixers to draft with that pick. He finally developed into the player I had a feeling he would become and it's at a position of need for the Sixers, today and back then. Dario Saric is just another soft international player with poor athletic ability and short arms. Dario Saric moves like he is 38 years old. Is it time for him to think about retirement?

[Unbreakable99]

Literally anyone should have been the pick besides Okafor. Mudiay would have been a better pick and he's been stinking up the joint. "Reaching" for Hezonja would be better. He hasn't been that good either. "Reaching" for Turner would have been better. Other "reaches" like Stanley Johnson would look better and Johnson is nothing special at all. Winslow would have been better. Trading the pick and moving back to get Booker would have been better. Literally the worst thing Hinkie could have done was drafting Okafor while we already had 1 and half centers at that time. Grrrr. Brown just needs to sit Okafor until he knows that rebounding and hustle is important. I still think Okafor has value to a team coming off the bench. His minutes just need to be limited because if he's not scoring then he's completely useless as a player on the court. Before I thought 20-24 minutes would be good. I might need to bump that down to 16-20 minutes so he stays fresh and can play at full speed at all times.

The way that you feel about Okafor I feel about Dario Saric. Zack Lavine is the guy I wanted the Sixers to draft with that pick. He finally developed into the player I had a feeling he would become and it's at a position of need for the Sixers, today and back then. Dario Saric is just another soft international player with poor athletic ability and short arms. Dario Saric moves like he is 38 years old. Is it time for him to think about retirement?

Disagree. LaVine is playing well but it's not the differnce between Okafor and any other pick. Saric also like a glue guy. He was always seen as a bench player who can help the team win. He's not a high usage player. I liked the pick. I understand his athletic limitations but I'm not worrying about LaVIne. If someone would rather have LaVine I understand. You can definitely make that argument.

[Sportfan73]

Literally anyone should have been the pick besides Okafor. Mudiay would have been a better pick and he's been stinking up the joint. "Reaching" for Hezonja would be better. He hasn't been that good either. "Reaching" for Turner would have been better. Other "reaches" like Stanley Johnson would look better and Johnson is nothing special at all. Winslow would have been better. Trading the pick and moving back to get Booker would have been better. Literally the worst thing Hinkie could have done was drafting Okafor while we already had 1 and half centers at that time. Grrrr. Brown just needs to sit Okafor until he knows that rebounding and hustle is important. I still think Okafor has value to a team coming off the bench. His minutes just need to be limited because if he's not scoring then he's completely useless as a player on the court. Before I thought 20-24 minutes would be good. I might need to bump that down to 16-20 minutes so he stays fresh and can play at full speed at all times.

The way that you feel about Okafor I feel about Dario Saric. Zack Lavine is the guy I wanted the Sixers to draft with that pick. He finally developed into the player I had a feeling he would become and it's at a position of need for the Sixers, today and back then. Dario Saric is just another soft international player with poor athletic ability and short arms. Dario Saric moves like he is 38 years old. Is it time for him to think about retirement?

Disagree. LaVine is playing well but it's not the differnce between Okafor and any other pick. Saric also like a glue guy. He was always seen as a bench player who can help the team win. He's not a high usage player. I liked the pick. I understand his athletic limitations but I'm not worrying about LaVIne. If someone would rather have LaVine I understand. You can definitely make that argument.

Yep. Dario is a backup and will be when Ben returns. He will be a very good one too.

[SelfishPlayer]

LaVine is playing well but it's not the differnce between Okafor and any other pick.

I disagree with that because Mario Hezonja is bad. Okafor is a better NBA player and talent than him. Mario Hezonja is more deserving of NBA minutes than Nik Stauskas and TJ McConnell, but that doesn't make him a more valuable NBA asset than Okafor.

[Sixersftw]

LaVine is playing well but it's not the differnce between Okafor and any other pick.

I disagree with that because Mario Hezonja is bad. Okafor is a better NBA player and talent than him. Mario Hezonja is more deserving of NBA minutes than Nik Stauskas and TJ McConnell, but that doesn't make him a more valuable NBA asset than Okafor.

I don't think he meant that quite so literally. There are around (lets be nice) 7 players drafted after Okafor that most people would prefer to Jah.

[LloydFree]

We tried to tell you guys....

Taking Okafor over Porzingis is going to go down as one of the great draft mistakes of all time.

It's so obvious that this decision was forced upon Hinkie by ownership. No way Hinkie was this dumb.

I disagree. I think Hinkie voluntarily drafted Okafor. Hinkie flopped and choked on that pick. Hinkie isn't infallible. Just admit he blew that pick. Regardless if Embiid was hurt at the time and there was concern he may never play, taking OKafor when we already had Noel was the worst pick Hinkie ever made. It made no sense to get a 3rd center.

Yes. It was a terrible miscalculation. Hinkie should have had a trade-back scenario ready when the Lakers selected Russell, if he didn't have the nerve to select Porzingis. It was a politically motivated move to mitigate the outrage over a 2nd Embiid surgery, by giving the "casual" fan a name player they believed was worth tanking an entire season to get. I get sick to my stomach every time I think about it.

[TTP]

Unless Hinkie makes a statement on the matter, we'll never know whether it was an agency problem or just a bad pick. This topic comes up far too frequently and it's a waste of words every time. It just makes Hinkie supporters come off worse.

[rzzzzz]

(broken record) there's a strong suggestion that Ainge was offering the Brooklyn pick (when it still had the potential to be top 2) plus whoever else he was dangling for Okafor and Sam turned it down. yes, maybe the same alleged organizational politics were in play, but we'd had a pretty good look at him by then. plus, i'm not sure how much i go along with the notion of Sam kowtowing, since all his other decisions stayed iconoclastic until Jerry was shoved on him.

yeah, Jah stunk it up last night, and has been spotty since returning from his surprisingly lengthy convalescence. he definitely ain't right yet. haven't heard that he won't heal eventually. i agree with Kate Fagan that the Sixers are best served getting all 3 of their big guys fully healthy and on the court together in various combinations before making a move.

[SelfishPlayer]

We tried to tell you guys....

Taking Okafor over Porzingis is going to go down as one of the great draft mistakes of all time.

It's so obvious that this decision was forced upon Hinkie by ownership. No way Hinkie was this dumb.

I disagree. I think Hinkie voluntarily drafted Okafor. Hinkie flopped and choked on that pick. Hinkie isn't infallible. Just admit he blew that pick. Regardless if Embiid was hurt at the time and there was concern he may never play, taking OKafor when we already had Noel was the worst pick Hinkie ever made. It made no sense to get a 3rd center.

Yes. It was a terrible miscalculation. Hinkie should have had a trade-back scenario ready when the Lakers selected Russell, if he didn't have the nerve to select Porzingis. It was a politically motivated move to mitigate the outrage over a 2nd Embiid surgery, by giving the "casual" fan a name player they believed was worth tanking an entire season to get. I get sick to my stomach every time I think about it.

You guys took an entire element from the Hinkie philosophy off of the table when considering his methodology behind selecting Okafor. Hinkie was about acquiring guys based upon trade value and not fit on the roster. He bet on Okafor having higher trade value over a span of time than anyone else he could have drafted. Part of Hinkie's plan was supposed to include trading these assets for a bonafied superstar. That has never happened. So Hinkie was never about building through the draft. He was about acquiring assets through the draft. Within Hinki's flawed philosophy, bigger players have larger value as assets over smaller players. So you have this concentration of large players and no talented perimeter players. Being that Hinkie is not a "basketball guy," he doesn't understand the complexities of needing veteran players and balanced rosters in order for his young assets to develop. You can't learn those kinds of things with your head buried in a book of basketball analytics. The Colangelo's knew that part so they acquired Ish Smith and Elton Brand, but didn't bring them back.

[phiphan]

What are you even talking about dude.

[Sixerscan]

Two things.
1. Hinkie screwed up drafting okafor.

2. Part of the reason we tanked more than one year and got more than one top pick was to protect against making a bad pick one year. As opposed to, say, just tanking one year and taking Evan Turner.

A bonus thing

Because we tanked multiple years and ended up with multiple draft picks, people should be more willing to (a) admit hinkie screwed up a pick (b) move on from that screw up without feeling like all hope is lost.

[TTP]

Sounds like your typical anti-Hinkie Prokafor:

Attacks strawman arguments that he created (saying Hinkie failed because his plan was to trade for superstars and he failed to)

Massive oversimplifications by claiming Hinkie was following a specific strategy rather than just making the best decision at every decision point he faced ("He was about acquiring assets through the draft")

Makes things up completely (Hinkie never claimed bigger players have larger value as assets)

Simultaneously bashes management that aren't basketball guys and preaches about needing veterans

Criticizes the use of data driven decisions

Brings a lot of ignorance in general

[TeamHigh]

yeah, Jah stunk it up last night, and has been spotty since returning from his surprisingly lengthy convalescence. he definitely ain't right yet. haven't heard that he won't heal eventually. i agree with Kate Fagan that the Sixers are best served getting all 3 of their big guys fully healthy and on the court together in various combinations before making a move.

The issue here is not that Okafor is looking bad while a lot of fans are excusing this as "him not being right", but the more discouraging possibility that he'll simply never become a plus player because his deficiencies are too large. He's never looked like a plus defender for any significant stretch of his career, and his effort on that side of the ball is simply not there.

A lot of people were willing to excuse his poor defensive play by claiming he's young. "He's 20", "he'll get better". Many of these projections are simply overly optimistic and based on nothing substantial.

He'll get better, sure. Young players improve. But the young players who improve are typically those who show effort in trying to improve. Okafor has yet to do so. He was also historically bad on that end of the court (he had the WORST DRPM of any big in the league), so expecting him to become even an average defensive big is extremely optimistic, especially when you consider that he doesn't have great physical tools to do so.

On offense he does one thing above average, which is post isolation. He doesn't space the floor well (or at all). He doesn't pass well. He doesn't perform well in the pick and roll. He doesn't rebound well. He doesn't have great range on entries/lobs. He's not a shooter. But I guess people see him occasionally work over people in 1-on-1 settings and put the ball in the basket and think that he must be a good player because of it.

In fact a lot of people were voicing these very concerns on draft day too, and yet Hinkie still took him. Whether or not you believe that decision was forced on him, it was still a significant blunder.

[F-Stop]

I still believe OK4 was the right pick at the time and I believe he is still a good player right now. Love the way people jump on the guy who is playing with a minutes restriction due to a leg injury.



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