Quote:
Originally Posted by mcb33f
do you see okafor as a potential great danny? like i've seen duncan's name come up a bunch. i might need to reassess my opinion of okafor's ceiling if people think he's a chance to be that level of player
I do. Okafor has best player in the league equity. Not sure exactly how much, but his skill level is absurd, and it's a rare skill set. It's probably the most rare thing in the modern NBA - The true post-playing center who can iso as the center of an offense. There simply aren't a ton of those guys. Duncan, Shaq in the modern era are the best. Anthony Davis, incredible as he is, still doesn't have a dominant post game. Dwight Howard was a top 5 player in the league for a good amount of time but never REALLY had a great post game. It was still kind of painful to watch him iso in Orlando even with all those shooters around him - he looked awkward and stiff a lot. It's just a rare thing to have a dominant iso low post game.
I'll say something with a disclaimer - I don't know if I actually believe this yet. But I'll say it anyways just to generate discussion.
Okafor has the best offensive game for a freshman true post player ever. Full-stop, all-time.* It's just freaky how many moves he has. I'm used to pumping up post prospects like Brow or Nerlens where they play freaky defense and are great athletes, but are glorified dunk machines on offense. Okafor has Duncan's great 10-12 ft bank shot. He has a super nimble spin move. He's got a great running hook. He can do all this from both sides, with both hands. He can muscle through a guy physically or spin around and leave him in the dust. Freshmen just don't have that, like ever.
His defense isn't bad, it's just not elite like with recent prospects like Brow/Nerlens/Embiid. He's a good, above average defender in NCAA right now. Tall and long (6'11 or 7'0 at 18 years old, 7'3 wingspan. Could easily grow another inch). A pretty good athlete, he's not some no-jump-fatty, he's just not elite. Stocks are respectable but not great. I think he's reasonably good in the NBA on D.
*Noting that Chamberlain/Alcindor/etc never got to play as freshmen.
Last edited by DannyOcean_; 01-10-2015 at 09:50 PM.