Signed last offseason to a two-year contract, Jahlil Okafor still has the talent of a third overall pick but has much to prove if he wants his career on the basketball court to survive cutdown day.
Entering his fourth season of NBA basketball, New Orleans Pelicans center Jahlil Okafor is far from a finished product, or so he (and his agent for that matter) should hope. He’s looking to survive yet another NBA cutdown day on Oct. 22.
The league changed on the young center, but he hasn’t been that willing to change to survive in its current form. Okafor is a pitiful three-point shooter, he’s certainly slow, and his scoring too often relies on post-up looks; he’s a lot like late-career Dwight Howard in those regards. However, he showed big strides across the board towards the end of last season.
Once a third-overall pick from Duke University, the 6’11”, 275 LBS big finds himself at risk of losing his spot on an NBA roster. Potentially, it will take a really impressive training camp from Okafor to stay on as a member of the Pelicans organization.
Last season for New Orleans, Okafor wasn’t impressive, but he played generally okay basketball during his 15.8 minutes per game. He averaged 8.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and shot at a 58.7% effective field goal clip.
Not incredibly productive on either end, he posted a -2.3 box plus/minus last season to go with his 2.2 win share and average 17.9 player efficiency rating.
In his prior two stops, he’s failed to impress. First as the third-overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, then after forcing a trade to the Brooklyn Nets during the 2017-2018 season, he never showed the value that made him a top recruit at Duke University.
Eventually, he signed a two-year, minimum deal with the Pelicans in the 2018 offseason.
Okafor did post some impressive outings once Anthony Davis’s time as a Pelican became, for lack of a better word, terminal. For instance, he lit up the Houston Rockets for 27 points and 12 rebounds on January 29th, 2019, though Houston was without their interior protector in Clint Capela.
In the clip above, you can see Okafor using his physicality to work his way around strong, seasoned defenders like P.J. Tucker and Kenneth Faried. Too often throughout his NBA career, Okafor hasn’t exemplified the effort it takes to really work his magic against physical defenders. He also made identifying mismatches on smaller, weaker defenders like Chris Paul and James Harden look like child’s play; for a lot of his career, he’s struggled to identify these kinds of situations.
Further, he played a lot better defense at the end of last season. Okafor is infamous for his lack of discipline, but more so for his entire lack of effort on defense. Without Davis on the floor to clog the Pelicans center minutes, Okafor took a lot more comfort in a role as a stay-home rim protector. If he wants to survive on this roster, he’s going to need to follow that trend.
Currently, Okafor is probably ranked third in terms of the Pelicans’ depth at center.
Derrick Favors will surely draw a nod over Okafor as the team’s starting center. The ten-year man acquired from the Utah Jazz in July has a track record of success and physical reliability in the NBA. Generally, it’s been an impressive run for Favors in the NBA, as he’s appeared as a crucial member of four playoff squads. Last season, he appeared in 76 games and averaged 11.8 points with 7.4 boards, all while only playing 23.8 minutes a night. He’s also a much less flat-footed defender than Okafor.
Considered more of a prospect when he was drafted eighth in this year’s draft by the Pelicans, Jaxson Hayes is likely to command a healthy load of playing time. In Summer League, the 6’11” big from the University of Texas looked to have the athleticism to compete at the NBA level this season. Hayes fits the mold of what the Pelicans are looking to do, getting more explosive and active across the board.
So, as it stands, Okafor will be competing for a third-center spot in a league that’s getting smaller. Further, he’s trying to make a Pelicans roster that’s been revamped with younger, quicker, and more physical players.
Whether or not Okafor will survive cutdown day ultimately comes down to his commitment to his own game. If we’re to believe what we hear and see on Instagram, Okafor is coming into camp in what might be the best shape of his life; for his career’s chance of survival, that has to mean he looks quicker and stronger on the basketball court.
Okafor is in a unique situation for this point in his career. He’s on a roster that’s not ready to compete yet but has a lot of young talent loaded for the long haul. He can pave his way to a back-up role if he comes into camp looking faster but will lose his chance if it’s more of the same entering year four of his career.
It will be important for him to play good basketball throughout the training camp, if nothing else, to help the development of the rest of the team. The Pelicans currently host six rookies on their roster and any additional veteran presence will help.