The Sixer Sense
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The Philadelphia 76ers Are Better Off Without Jahlil Okafor

By Josh Wilson

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Despite the Philadelphia 76ers’ rookie center Jahlil Okafor having a big statistic season, as a team, they might be better off when he is not on the floor.

Saturday was a big day for the Philadelphia 76ers, as they won their second game of the season in an impressive team-fought game against the Phoenix Suns. Although still at that point having a record of just 2-30, the team was excited to be boasting a new look and winning another game, finally. Noticeably, there was one big piece missing, and that was star rookie center Jahlil Okafor.

Okafor sat this game due to some knee soreness. The team sat him out to be safe, as they’ve had troubles with big men getting injured in the past. Before this game, Okafor scored double digit points in 10 of the past 11 games. Everything about Okafor sitting out said that the Sixers should have lost, but just as the team has a few other times this season, they actually played better with Jahlil on the bench.

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Okafor, who is averaging 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, has missed four games this season. Two game in early December when the team suspended him for what is presumed to be off court altercations, and street fights, and then two most recently for that sore knee injury.

The Sixers have won one of the four games that he has sat out, so that says a lot about what he means to this team. Then again, with him on the floor, they’ve also only won one game, so it’s pretty difficult to gauge how good they are with or without him when the wins are that rare.

Ball movement seems to be a bit better in games when Okafor doesn’t play. That’s a bit unfair to blame all on Jahlil, especially as of late, because the two games he has missed lately have featured Ish Smith, who moves the ball particularly well. Okafor has never played with Smith, so we don’t know if maybe the ball movement would be better with Okafor and Smith on the floor. Figuring out if Nerlens Noel or Okafor fits better with Ish Smith is the ongoing discussion. It will take some time to figure that out.

Statistically the team hovers right around 20 assists per game without Okafor, which is pretty average for them.

The points tell another tale. The Sixers average 92.0 points per game on the season, which is 30th (dead last) in the league, so they obviously look to improve there. In the four games that the Sixers have been without Okafor, they score 98.5 points per game, a vast improvement over their season average. Again, the sample size is small, but it would be interesting to see how that holds up with some more games considered.

The eye test seems to show that the ball is moving better with Okafor, especially in the game against the Suns. It seemed as if players were getting better looks, and that resulted in more made shots from players who haven’t gotten much done this season, like Nik Stauskas. Again, this could definitely be a product of Ish Smith being on the team.

Overall, watching Okafor, it seems as if the offense runs to Jahlil, and not through him. That’s not neccesarily his fault, as it could be an offensive gameplan issue. The ball touches Jahlil’s hands, and it often is either a shot taken for Jah, or a turnover. Okafor is the best player on the floor, so a lot of the time you want him taking the shots. But I see some value in him making passes as well. The offense isn’t as crippled when it touches one players hands when Okafor sits.

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I’m not suggesting that the Sixers look to trade or move their star center. In my opinion, he is the future of the team, and is making huge steps for a rookie player who is just 20 years old. Averaging over 15 points per game and dominating in the paint is not something I expected Okafor to do right out of the gate. I simply think that with this roster, Okafor being out gets the ball more spread out, and gives better looks to the whole team, instead of just a few players. This leads to more points scored, and more games won in theory. Of course, this may not be in general manager Sam Hinkie’s best interest, at least not yet. And over time, with a better roster, having Okafor on the floor will be beneficial, and lead to more wins.