I disagree. I practically grew up with Emeka, and I know one thing: He has no ego. Furthermore, he's a Rockets fan. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to make whatever sacrifices to his offensive game to help the Rockets win. I think he'd be the perfect compliment to Yao.
Read between the lines. My contention was just that Emeka is willing to become whatever the team needs him to be. If all we need him for is to play strong defense, rebound, and hit the open jumper, he'd be more than willing to do just that because he has no ego
I would not think it would be problem because Yao is not a low-post only player like Hakeem or Barkley. Yao and Okafor are more comparable to Duncan/Robinson because either one can be effective away from the basket. However, even if it is a problem, it is much more preferable than the situation we have right now.
I agree with this assessment. I too feel his game most resembles Zo's game. He will be solid in the NBA for many years to come.
I've been a basketball scout for 3 some odd years now, seeing hundreds of kids and games, and I can tell you that a players "willingness" is not a guarantee for a successful transition. In the case of Emeka, I am not doubting his strive to get better on the court or his will to evolve his game, as seen by his committment in the weight room and his work in the offseason on his footwork, lowpost positioning, and back to the basket moves. He has made tremendous strides on the offensive side of the ball in the post. Emeka is a back to the basket, post player, and making the transition to power forward in the NBA is a likely one and is one thing, but making the transition to a power forward to play alongside Yao Ming is not, and is another.
I think what JV said is valid. The Duncan/Robinson is not quite inline because Robinson's career was on his way down and after his injury, he was no longer playing at an all-star level. In a way, he really didn't have a choice. What makes athletes great is their desire to excel, if Okafor doesn't have that desire to be top-dog in his own team, well... he's not worth the #1 pick. If he plays like the #1 pick, then we have the problem that JV described. Why relegated Okafor to be "Robin" next to Yao's "Batman" if he really have all that potential? Why spend all that money & the top pick if he is going to be Robin? Yes, Sampson & Dream co-existed, but neither Okafor nor Yao has Sampson's skill set.
This is simply not true. McGrady doesn't want any rookies and McGrady is WAY more valuable to them than Okafor. Remember, next year is McGrady's contract year. Regardless of who wins the lottery and whether that team decides to keep the pick or not, at least ONE of these players will be available: Okafor Chandler Antonio Davis Drew Gooden Tracy McGrady Elton Brand One of these people will be available this summer. We should be able to get our hands on one of these guys.
OK, I can't resist this one ... If you have Emeka at PF, what do you want "Okur for"? Or how about "Okafor passes inside to Okur ... he misses ... Oakley up for the rebound ..." We can draft a PF from OKlahoma State to make it a clean sweep.
Okafor (Yes, but please read JV's post) Chandler (alone for SF, No.) Antonio Davis (NO!!!) Drew Gooden (alone for SF, No. They don't have anything else except McGreedy) Tracy McGrady (Yes, but I am not so sure about his Ego problem) Elton Brand (Yes.)
Sure I would love to have Okafor on our team, but how good is he really? We have never seen him compete against the best compitition of his era. Okafor should have competed against the likes of Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddie Griffin, Amare Stoudimire and Eddie Curry. We new players like Dream were going to be quality big men even if we did not know exactly how good they would end up. Dream competed against Patrick Ewing and many other of the very best big men of his time. Players like Ralph Sampson, Roy Tarpley and Charles Barkley were in College. Who do we have to compare Okafor to at this stage of his career?
All these players are better than the players we have at their position. If they're not equal to Francis, we simply won't trade straight up (which doesn't seem possible in most of these cases ayway). The only player I wouldn't like to have is Antonio Davis because I believe Cato can do better. But other than that, we'd just be improving, and obviously, other players would be throw in depending on the scenario.
I would love to see a scenario where Chi gets the 1st pick and decides to trade Chandler. Perhaps we could deal Francis for Hinrich and Chandler? I still think Chandler will be a stud before his career is over.
Did you not watch the last two games... he played better than he ever has, with "back and shoulder problems". These were just minor injuries that came up at the end of 3 straight years of banging, and he had to sit out a few games. What player doesn't get these types of injuries? He'll be a solid pro... but we can't get him for Francis unless the contracts match up. Thus, we need a third team to be involved if this deal goes down.
Shouldn't there be a smiley there? Apart from Amare, none of these guys has shown much at all. And by the way, enough already with the Hinrich and Chandler jocking. By the time those guys are ready (if ever) to compete on a playoff-contending level, Yao will be walking with a cane. Just my 2c ...
If there's still any doubt, I wasn't basing my argument on his ego. I'm just wondering how you make an offense with 2 post-up scorers and one ball. You could have Yao continue to be the go-to post scorer and ask Okafor to bang, block shots and rebound. And, that'd be great for his 4 rookie contract seasons. But, when he's available to sign his $11+ million contract, do you pay that kind of money when you don't use half his skill set? And, in the meantime, can you use his offensive skills inside to pressure the defense as well as the pressure Francis puts on, when Yao is holding the ball? Either Yao or Okafor has to step out of the post to keep the defense at bay. I'm assuming Yao is the better jump shooter. If Okafor can hit the jumper, you can pull him out to midrange. But, he's probably a better scorer in the low post.
