Okafor is a minus defender. As for perching them both on the block, that doesn't work. It jams up the lane which takes away Damian's drives and fouls up CJ's midrange game, not to mention, Damian and CJ aren't exactly "pass first."
I don't think offense would be the issue if you were to pair okafor/nurkic together. But I think the main appeal is age, and potential. Both of them have shown flashes to be something special.
Yeah. We want no vets here. Let our young guns figure it out by themselves. Without any inside help. It will take next five years. Let it bake slowly. Way to go guys!
Jah seems talented, and looks legit in highlight vids, but I've reading some sixers forums and they can't stand him, at all. 90% of them would trade him for a future 2nd.
Are we sure Nerlens is off the block? I know he's played better but he's still going to be a really expensive backup if they keep him. His value may never be higher. Also I wouldn't be surprised if the Nets did something crazy like max him out.
Just about thoroughly convinced he gets moved by the deadline. Nothing from the Blazers since this morning though.
Here's how I see it: If Philadelphia insists on valuing him as a star prospect, he won't be moved by the deadline. If they value him (more rationally, in my opinion) as a solid offense-only prospect who may be best suited as a scoring reserve, there's a good chance a deal gets done.
Yep, and I said it the day we traded for Nurk - Okafor has only played in 38 games for PHI and has only averaged 23.0 MPG as they rotate through their big men, trying to find out which ones to keep. And, Nurk was only playing 17.9 MPG in DEN. They could both come here and play more than they were playing previously and never spend one minute together on the court. Not sure how Okafor would feel about coming off the bench after being the the 3rd pick in the draft, but I think he'd be a hell of a 6th man. Imagine him down low and Crabbe spreading the floor. Our second unit starts looking more like our first unit. Plus, having a regular role, getting 20 - 24 minutes off the bench every game would have to be a better situation than racking up DNP-CDs and constantly getting shopped in PHI. Look how happy Nurk seems to be here. This could also be a fresh start for Okafor. BTW, full disclosure, I predicted Okafor would win ROY last year. Not because I thought he was the best player in his draft class, but because with PHI being so bad, I thought he get more PT than most other rookies and would lead all rookies in scoring. He didn't, but still 17.5/7 and a PER of 17.1 is enough to win ROY in most years and not bad for a 19/20 year old rookie. Yeah, his defense sucks, but again, that's something you can somewhat hide on the second unit, where he won't be guarding top flight opposing centers. Leave that to the more defensively inclined Nurkic. BNM
A lot of people on this forum would have traded Aldridge for a future 2nd a couple years before Portland drafted Lillard.
Woj mentioned that Philly still values him as the third pick in the draft while other teams don't care about where he was drafted, and ultimately that's where the snag seems to be right now.
No. They tried playing him and Noel together last year. They played Okafor at center and the quicker, more agile Noel at PF and it didn't work. He can't guard stretch 4s, which is what most teams start these days. So, you need him "guarding" the 5 on defense and playing on the low block on offense. His one, and only, position is center. That used to be a good thing. Not so much in today's NBA. That's why he isn't working in PHI and why they are having a hard time getting anything of value for him. They also shopped him heavily leading up to the draft last June and reportedly couldn't even get late lottery pick for a guy who put up 17.5/7 as a 20-year old rookie. For the record, the leading scorer from last year's draft is averaging 9.4 ppg and the leading rebounder is averaging 4.1 rpg. BNM
Agree, and then theres the other thing to consider. Tyson Chandler credited Haywood for allowing him to play so well defensively. He knew that if he got early fouls, Dallas would go to another quality player to replace him. I think Okafor while not the greatest defender at 21, is still a big body who would allow Nurk/Stotts comfort. Knowing if the starting center is in foul trouble, you then have a quality center you can go to. Okafor highlights show one thing. He knows what to do if he was in Portland and teams jumped the pick & roll with Lillard/CJ.
That's a good point, and probably why they didn't move him on draft night last June. They still considered him a high lottery pick and expected the same in return. Still he was a Sam Hinkie pick and at some point, Bryan Colangelo needs to face reality. I'd still rather have Noel than Okafor, but Noel seems to co-exist better with Embiid. They are similar players and rarely see the court together, but with Noel coming off the bench, they still have an elite rim protector and defender on the court when Embiid sits. BNM
