Is Jahlil Okafor the most skilful big man in the league?

We get it you love Okafor, but we don't need to get all crazy with that Harden part.

 

Dmo say hi

 

He learned it all from Joel Embiid

 

He reminds me of Al Jefferson.

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(loving the Paul Simon in the video, screw those terrible rap songs)

Okafor palms the ball and hooks it the same way as Big Al. And Jahlil can become that consistent 20-10 player, a multiple All-Star (something Jefferson never was, albeit deserved to be), but he's not going to be a franchise cornerstone like KAT and maybe Porzingis. Defense is not there, and won't be.

 

Fixed

 

Yeah, and unfortunately, he's amazingly bad at defending. He kills the whole team on defense.

 

Towns' offense is merely great. Okafor's offense is simply transcendental.

Anyone looking at just the shooting percentage reveals that you know nothing about basketball.

Towns has Rubio creating for him. Despite being a piss poor offensive player, Rubio is a top 3 in the league in terms of PG talent. Towns also shares the offensive load with Martin, Wiggins.

Okafor relies on Ish Smith and Robert Covington. There is no comparison as to who has more help.

Okafor just turned 20 right now. I can see him becoming completely unstoppable in 2-3 years assuming adequate development and conditioning. I don't think it is a stretch to call him the Steph Curry of the post.

 

Porzingis is more valuable asset.

KAT as well, along with Anthony Davis (obviously).

They are the type of talent that could make small ball disappear. If you have big men that can pass and shoot plus defend, makes it awfully difficult to put smaller forwards on them defensively.

Once T-Wolves figure it out, they'll be the team that upends the Warriors.

 

What the hell does that even mean? Steph Curry of the post?

If you can't pass as a big man, you're kind of screwed in this era as a team. You have a misunderstanding of where the game is at right now if you're relying on a ball dominant center with poor defensive skills, average rebounding skills and poor passing skills to take you places. I don't care if he's Kareem on scoring, Okafor & the Sixers lose to teams that can shoot the ball better and run the floor.

 

Towns gets his points with motion and his ball handling skills, actually only has an average post game. Towns skills probably translates better in today's game, particularly his 3 pt shot.

 

That's because big men aren't used to defending players with the skills to wave ball around in this generation. They are used to big men that can only chew gum and walk at the same time.

 

KAT has comparable stats to Tim Duncan in his first year, minutes adjusted.

And we're not adjusting someone who plays 15 minutes or less to Duncan's 39 minutes in his first year, but someone that plays 30min per game.

What is terrible about Okafor and the 76ers, is that despite playing literally two centers, they get outrebounded every night.

 

You are fighting a losing battle.
Okafor is a better post player but that doesn't matter as much in the modern NBA. That is also the only thing he is better than KAT at.

In the modern NBA you want ball movement from your bigs, KAT does that and Okafor doesn't.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Okafor get 27-28 points a game and still not impact the game like KAT would at 19-20 points.

 

I would agree with this. I have rarely seen big men become a significantly better defender or rebounder over time in the NBA. Okafar could be Brook Lopez on steroids offensively ... but what good did Brook Lopez do for the Nets during a career of 18+ PPG + 7 rebounds and poor defense?

 

60% TS% is not as rare for bigs as OP seems to say. Not really an indicator of greatness at all.

That said, Okafor is going to be special.

 

He may have the best skill set in the post for any player around his age. Heck, he'll probably be the better scorer, if you're comparing him to Boogie. He needs to work on his rebounding and defense, but I can't name any other post player with his potential. His quickness, form and methodology, in terms of using his body according to his opponent's positioning, if pretty damn amazing.

He's one of my favorite players to watch, but I've always been a fan of guys who can play in the post with a variety of moves. He is an offensive KILLER. In his prime, he will be unguardable. Even with Ant Davis, although he is developing his post game, he doesn't have Okafor's footwork. He has the height and the versatility to hit the 3, but Okafor's bread and butter are down low. He's so comfortable in that spot and shows no fear posting up taller players.

Philly better build around him the right way. If that team keeps on losing, even talents like Okafor are going to run far away when free agency hits.

 

Steph curry of the post? Daddy likes

 

Maybe I am doing something wrong but I show 44 players including Okafor that have done that. Rookie year, from 1976 to 2016, 50%+ TS%, 25%+ USG%, and I added 20 min/g to clear out some trash stats. I have him at 18th best on the TS%.

edit...I realized the number you meant was players with USG% greater or equal to Okafor's current USG%.