Welcome Okafor: Thread 2

[mksp]

While you guys are posting REC LEAGUE clips, Kevin Pelton and Chad Ford are ranking Sophomores for ESPN Insider, and neither have Jahlil Okafor in their top-10.

"Let's rank them from 1 to 10 in terms of what we should expect this season."

Nobody knows which of our bigs is even going to be here.

That's kind of the overarching point though, right?

You think there would be any question if ANY of those other 10 guys, Porzingis and Turner included, would be here next year if we had drafted them instead of Okafor?

[CoreyGallagher]

That's kind of the overarching point though, right?

You think there would be any question if ANY of those other 10 guys, Porzingis and Turner included, would be here next year if we had drafted them instead of Okafor?

May have misunderstood your point. I don't believe it's an indictment of Okafor as much as it is the situation.

If Okafor had been drafted to another team I'd expect he'd have been ranked - if he had a PG from the get go and more surrounding talent his metrics would have been better and as a result perceptions of him would be as well - I've often cited his individual numbers with Ish and + talent. To your point - if we had drafted another player they may have been ranked, but I also believe that the perceptions of any of them would not be the same either.

[Easymoney]

Porzingis would've really struggled if we drafted him.

I don't think Hinkie would have lasted as long as he did either.

[LloydFree]

While you guys are posting REC LEAGUE clips, Kevin Pelton and Chad Ford are ranking Sophomores for ESPN Insider, and neither have Jahlil Okafor in their top-10.

The list is kind of skewed because it's specifically for the coming year, so I really don't have much disagreement with Okafor's placement outside the top 10 sophomores. Going forward I'd have him over Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow and maybe Hollis-Jefferson for more impact. I believe Trey Lyles, who didn't make the list of 10, will be a better player long term. And I think Stanley Johnson will likely be better also.

[76ciology]

2.063 miles per game|4.017 miles per hour
-9th in distance travelled per game among centers
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-85th among NBA players in distance travelled per game

[Ericb5]

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[rzzzzz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mig9OzqFzUs

(Thanks Rich.)

[LeonJordanJr24]

Carmello Anthony level scorer. Jah skills are rare. He will be a perenial allstar.

[ankle420breaker]

Rare blend of size, strength, handle, touch, footwork, and soft hands. At age 20, there aren't many guys around the league who can check him without help. He'll be a tough cover throughout his career.

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[LloydFree]

Carmello Anthony level scorer. Jah skills are rare. He will be a perenial allstar.

I'm surprised Boston and Phoenix didnt see that, and preferred drafting Jaylen Brown and Dragen Bender to accepting a "future perennial All-star" on draft night...

[LeonJordanJr24]

Well Okafor played for a historically bad team. He is extremely underated. Even if average defensively . Okafor will be a absolute offensive monster. You can't teach that.

[Ericb5]

Carmello Anthony level scorer. Jah skills are rare. He will be a perenial allstar.

I'm surprised Boston and Phoenix didnt see that, and preferred drafting Jaylen Brown and Dragen Bender to accepting a "future perennial All-star" on draft night...

It hasn't been established that Okafor was offered for the 3rd pick. There is obviously a lot of fog of war surrounding what was, and wasn't offered, but I for one wouldn't have traded Okafor for the 3rd pick by itself, and BC may have agreed.

There have been media indications both ways, as in that they could have had Okafor for the 3rd pick alone, or that they would have had to add something else to get him.

[spikeslovechild]

Carmello Anthony level scorer. Jah skills are rare. He will be a perenial allstar.

I'm surprised Boston and Phoenix didnt see that, and preferred drafting Jaylen Brown and Dragen Bender to accepting a "future perennial All-star" on draft night...

Weren't there reports of Boston offering the BKN pick and it being turned down. Not saying I necessarily agree with half of these rumors but of the rumors involving Okafor that one was picked up by reputable sources and had the most smoke.

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1428579#start_here

Show me one legitimate rumor where Noel was being offered straight up for the third pick. Won't happen. Why? Because you're full of it.

[LloydFree]

Well Okafor played for a historically bad team. He is extremely underated. Even if average defensively . Okafor will be a absolute offensive monster. You can't teach that.

He was a big part of the team being historically bad.

[rzzzzz]

It hasn't been established that Okafor was offered for the 3rd pick.

True that. Danny said he offered a lot at the trade deadline to get it done. NJ pick was implied, and Globe said it was for Okafor. (So those of you saying Hinkie was weak in drafting Okafor, he seems to have continued to think enough of him to keep him.) But Danny said he was confident he'd get the deal done after the season.

Then we're told that Boston prefers Noel. But according to Woj, they won't make the swap, even with our extra draft picks plus a couple of our best prospects tossed in. Hmmm. Plus, the only other deal Woj has mentioned was Noel for Teague. Otherwise, I don't trust any of the rumors from the usual, less than stellar journalists who desperately need the click bait.

Finally, Pops invited Okafor for the US select team, not Noel, despite the fact the Okafor was still healing and could not scrimmage against team USA, which is sort of the whole point. Why is that? (I think Pops just wanted to work out Okafor for future consideration.)

[spikeslovechild]

It hasn't been established that Okafor was offered for the 3rd pick.

True that. Danny said he offered a lot at the trade deadline to get it done. NJ pick was implied, and Globe said it was for Okafor. (So those of you saying Hinkie was weak in drafting Okafor, he seems to have continued to think enough of him to keep him.) But Danny said he was confident he'd get the deal done after the season.

Then we're told that Boston prefers Noel. But according to Woj, they won't make the swap, even with our extra draft picks plus a couple of our best prospects tossed in. Hmmm. Plus, the only other deal Woj has mentioned was Noel for Teague. Otherwise, I don't trust any of the rumors from the usual, less than stellar journalists who desperately need the click bait.

Finally, Pops invited Okafor for the US select team, not Noel, despite the fact the Okafor was still healing and could not scrimmage against team USA, which is sort of the whole point. Why is that? (I think Pops just wanted to work out Okafor for future consideration.)

I'll also say at the time the BKN pick was turned down we didn;t know where it would fall. Posters in the thread made mention that it had around 25% (24.7 to be exact) of it being top two. At that time I would make the argument the pick was actually worth more then when we were engaging in discussions with Noel because there was a 1/4 chance it would be Ingram or Simmons.

[spikeslovechild]

Well Okafor played for a historically bad team. He is extremely underated. Even if average defensively . Okafor will be a absolute offensive monster. You can't teach that.

He was a big part of the team being historically bad.

They went 2-20 last season without him.

I can already see the next LloydFree thread title ""Why Tibor Pleiss is a better fit for the Sixers than Jahlil Okafor""

[Ericb5]

It hasn't been established that Okafor was offered for the 3rd pick.

True that. Danny said he offered a lot at the trade deadline to get it done. NJ pick was implied, and Globe said it was for Okafor. (So those of you saying Hinkie was weak in drafting Okafor, he seems to have continued to think enough of him to keep him.) But Danny said he was confident he'd get the deal done after the season.

Then we're told that Boston prefers Noel. But according to Woj, they won't make the swap, even with our extra draft picks plus a couple of our best prospects tossed in. Hmmm. Plus, the only other deal Woj has mentioned was Noel for Teague. Otherwise, I don't trust any of the rumors from the usual, less than stellar journalists who desperately need the click bait.

Finally, Pops invited Okafor for the US select team, not Noel, despite the fact the Okafor was still healing and could not scrimmage against team USA, which is sort of the whole point. Why is that? (I think Pops just wanted to work out Okafor for future consideration.)

I'll also say at the time the BKN pick was turned down we didn;t know where it would fall. Posters in the thread made mention that it had around 25% (24.7 to be exact) of it being top two. At that time I would make the argument the pick was actually worth more then when we were engaging in discussions with Noel because there was a 1/4 chance it would be Ingram or Simmons.

Agreed. The Nets pick was more valuable at the trade deadline than it was at the draft because it could have turned into Simmons or Ingram at that point.

[ET Da Gawd]

Well Okafor played for a historically bad team. He is extremely underated. Even if average defensively . Okafor will be a absolute offensive monster. You can't teach that.

He was a big part of the team being historically bad.

wronggggggg....Stauskas, Hollis, Roco, Jerami, McConnell, Marshall, Canaan, Smith were the reason....(Edited) they are all/are defensive liabilities & have pedestrian level offensive skillsets.

[76ciology]

Past is past and no one is blaming anyone. Just something someone can learn.

I watched the replay of that feb 24 game with the Pistons. I can post some clips to show how the problem is not with Jah keeping up with Tobias. It's the blatant miscommunication between Jah and Noel on defense, as if they were sabotaging each other. And other guys like Stauskas got bulldozed by tobias (explains why he tried adding some muscle this offseason) and hollis making (Please Use More Appropriate Word) reads on D (one possession where Jah is in the paint but he still went from corner 3 to paint and overhelps on D that opens up his man).

I think the right way to deal with crossmatching on D was for Jah to play C and Noel at PF on D when shots were missed. Then during deadballs or made baskets, Jah plays PF on D and Noel at C. It was a bad fit on D because opposing teams doesn't respect Noel on offense that they probably would still be ok letting their SF guard him. Those cross matches won't be a problem with Embiid. On non cross match defensive situations (mostly halfcourt) jah plays good D on Aaron Gordon, Milsap and Tobias.