A Convo on Okafor play so far (pretty accurate from what I've watched, which is unfortunately most of their games
):
Chad Ford: I think he's largely played exactly as we thought he would: Dominant offensively. A liability defensively.
Okafor has always been a special low-post scorer. I'm not sure I've ever seen a big man who has the combination of low-post skills (footwork, hands, go-to moves) that Okafor has at his age.
He's already been pretty dominant as a 19-year-old. No one in the NBA is taking more shots within nine feet of the basket than Okafor. And just two centers (
DeMarcus Cousins and
Andre Drummond) are taking (and making) more shots within five feet of the basket.
He's a low-post monster -- not only with his back to the basket, but also taking his guy off the dribble from the top of the elbow. And as far as his scoring goes, he's averaging more PPG than any other rookie center in the past 20 years. While he could be more efficient, overall he's been very, very good for a rookie.
How about his defense?
Ford: Well, it was concerns about Okafor's defense that ultimately cost him being the No. 1 pick. And so far, the pre-draft concerns look very warranted. Right, Kevin?
Pelton: They do. With Okafor on the court, the Sixers are allowing 109.0 points per 100 possessions
according to NBA.com/Stats, which would be tied for 28th in the league. When he's on the bench, Philadelphia's defensive rating improves to 96.9, which would rank second.
Because the sample is so small, plus-minus statistics are hardly definitive at this point. Unfortunately, these match up well with watching Okafor play. Though he'll block the occasional shot and opponents are actually shooting quite poorly against him around the rim, Okafor is often too late to rotate over as a help defender.
He's also been ineffective on the defensive glass. Okafor's 17.0 percent defensive rebound rate is far worse than league average for a center (22.8 percent) and the team has rebounded better with him on the bench
Is an Okafor trade possible?
Ford: Well, you know the answer that Philly will give publicly -- that they love him and he isn't going anywhere. But if there were any team in the league that would be willing to move a player like Okafor a month or two into the season, I think it's the Sixers.
There are few people in the league that scout the draft more thoroughly than Hinkie does, which means I believe he saw Kristaps Porzingis,
Emmanuel Mudiay,
Justise Winslow and Okafor as much as anyone did. And he chose Okafor despite the fact that Porzingis, Mudiay or Winslow all would have been much better complements to the current roster (and all three might be better players in the long run because of Okafor's weaknesses).
The only justification I can really give for selecting Okafor is that Hinkie thought Okafor was the superior asset, that given his size and long history as a potential No. 1 guy, Hinkie believed he could fetch the highest price the fastest if he needed to move him.
