Bob Donnan – USA TODAY Sports
Jahlil Okafor has been a big name in recent years; a highly-touted recruit who dominated in his first season in college. He helped lead his team to the national championship and has embraced the spotlight that comes along with it. He will likely be one of the top draft picks this summer, but concerns about his defense may see him fall. With the No. 2 overall pick, the Los Angeles Lakers will strongly consider Okafor as their franchise center of the future. At the very least, Okafor’s offensive talent will inject early excitement into an organization looking to make a splash.
Okafor has the potential to be a dominant low-post scorer and is highly advanced for his age. He has amazing foot work to go along with a variety of post moves, which allows him to be a threat down low. He has huge hands and is able to catch the ball with ease, and his size makes him a big target. He needs to work on his mid-range game, but he already possesses a soft touch around the rim and is a great finisher. He does not always need to finish above the rim, instead utilizing his foot work, pump fakes and innate timing to throw off defenders.
He is also incredibly smart on this end of the court, and offenses can be run through him in the post. He is a very good passer out of double teams, which can cause defenses to scramble around. He patiently allows plays to develop, and teams will have tough choices to make when he gets into position.
Okafor is still far from a finished product, as his free-throw shooting is a concern, and his lack of athleticism makes him a liability on defense. There are plenty of big men who struggle from the charity stripe, but Okafor’s strong post game means that he will likely be sent there more than others. If he cannot shoot a respectable percentage, then it would be easy for defenders to simply foul him when he gets the ball. As we saw in the playoffs this season, this could be a problem as teams are unafraid to utilize their bench to give as many fouls as possible.
We are also seeing more and more big men who are capable of running the court, or coaches using smaller lineups to spread the defense. Okafor’s lack of quickness will make it hard for him to cover on pick-and-rolls, and he does not provide much rim protection despite a long wingspan. Part of the problem has been laziness, and he must work on getting better at reading the game on defense. His rotations were often several steps slow, and his positioning was very poor. This also affects his rebounding, an area that he should be much better at. While he may never be a dominant presence on defense, we have seen players in the past with height and length develop into solid defenders in the right system.
Okafor is talented enough where he could step into the league and become one of the best post scorers in a short amount of time. He might be one of the best offensive prospects that we have seen in the past couple of years and could be a good fit for Los Angeles, a team always looking for marketable stars. He must work harder to become a better defender and needs to show more desire when going after rebounds. But there is no denying his talent, and should the Lakers decide to take him, it would certainly give them hope for the future.
