Could Jahlil Okafor Win Rookie Of The Year?

By Josh Wilson | Aug 5, 2015

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Jul 14, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) shoots over the top of New York Knicks forward Alex Kirk (53) during an NBA Summer League game at Thomas & Mack Center. The Knicks won the game in overtime, 84-81. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Jahlil Okafor was the third pick in this year’s NBA draft, and is already recognized as a big piece to the Philadelphia 76ers and their rebuilding process. While team general manager Sam Hinkie does have a reputation for shipping away some previous draft picks that were supposed to be big players (Michael Carter-Williams), Okafor appears to be a player that will be in Philly for a while.

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Coming off of a season with 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as a Duke Blue Devil, he has set the bar high for himself. Of course, one of the highest honors Okafor could claim for himself in his first season is the coveted rookie of the year award.

This past season, Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves won the award with his 16.9 points per game. Wiggins didn’t miss a game all year long, and started in all of the 82 games over the course of the year for the Wolves.

This sets the bar even higher for Okafor, as does his performance in college where he was a big part of leading his team to winning the national championship. Still, with him projected to get most of the starts at center, and his skill set that he’s coming into the NBA with, I don’t think it’s far out to expect him to be one of the names brought up for rookie of the year.

It’s not going to be an easy year to get it, however, since this year’s draft class was particularly strong. Let’s look at some of his competition and see how he matches up against them.

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