When Will We See Jahlil Okafor in an NBA All-Star Game?

Jahlil Okafor is still just a rookie, but he’s exceeded expectations, and some fans are already wondering when he will appear in his first All Star game.

Jahlil Okafor has had an incredible first half of his rookie season. Although his team, the Philadelphia 76ers, is going to go into the All-Star break with less than 10 wins total, he has been a bright spot that looks to be a strong foundation for the future. So far this season he has averaged 17.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. He’s been a scoring machine, and even on nights that he’s seemed to be a bit off, he has been able to put up 15-20 points. There seems to be room for the big man to work and get his piece of the pie every night.

Coming into this season we expected to see him hit some road blocks, but he sped right through a lot of what we anticipated slowing him down. He has proven that there’s still room for a classic big man in the NBA, but has also shown glimpses of being a next-generation center throughout the year, especially lately as head coach Brett Brown has tried him more at the power forward spot.

This weekend, on Friday, Okafor will participate in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge alongside his teammate Nerlens Noel for the USA team. This is a great honor for the first year center, but some are already wondering when we will see his name mentioned as a part of the All-Star team roster, the ultimate honor of the weekend’s festivities.

More from The Sixer Sense

Okafor has certainly showed us from the start that he is something special, especially on the scoring front, which is, after all, the most important part of winning games. At the same time, despite how special he may be, and how impactful he may be during the course of his career, he has not been impactful enough to put the entire team on his shoulders and win games. Not that we expected a rookie with the roster that is around him to ever be able to do that, but it’s worth noting that he’s certainly falling short of being an All-Star so far.

It could be argued that being a center gives you the hardest challenge to make the All-Star team. Your statistics are highly scrutinized, and if you aren’t excelling in both points and rebounds, or at least doing a decent job of balancing the two aspects of your game, it’s going to be tough to get in. Your team not winning is going to make it even harder. Just ask DeMarcus Cousins, who had similar rookie numbers to Jahlil.

In Cousins’ rookie season, he scored about 14 points per game and pulled in about 8 rebounds, but of course, just as all rookies are, was not picked for the team. He came back even stronger the next season, scoring 18.1 points and 11 rebounds, but still, his name was not called. It wasn’t until he had a 24-point, 12-rebound season, with over 3 assists per game to add onto that. Boogie’s fifth season was the one he finally got into the game.

Cousins will be in the game again this season with his 26.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game he’s putting up this season. Some clever campaigning from the Kings social media team also helped him out.

We have seen centers get in for less, statistically, even recently. Roy Hibbert made it in with 12.8 points and 8.8 rebounds with the Indiana Pacers. While it definitely could be argued that the competition was higher in the Western Conference for Cousins that season, it had to have helped Hibbert’s game, and his exposure to voters that his team was doing well and succeeding as a unit. When we look at the rosters, especially from this year (with the exception of guys like Carmelo Anthony and Damian Lillard), we notice that a lot of the players selected are on winning teams, and that really makes sense. You don’t become an All-Star by leading your team to the bottom of your conference, in most cases.

So, being on a winning team helps. And it looks like the Sixers are on their way to becoming that within the next few years, at least that’s what Sixers fans would like to hope. But if the process fails, it’s definitely going to be a setback for Okafor and make it more difficult for him to get into the game, even if he puts up All-Star numbers.

Jan 4, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) juggles the ball before shooting against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers won 109-99. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Something else we need to consider is if the Sixers plan on keeping him around. Some have speculated that Sam Hinkie, general manager, should shop Okafor around in order to free up some breathing room in the frontcourt and get some serious value for him. I don’t agree with this way of thinking, but it’s worth noting that he could end up on a team with different winning woes that could prevent him from getting on the team. In the same way, if he’s traded to a team with a brighter future, he could find himself on the All-Star team faster than he would have been with the Sixers.

He’s also only half a season into his–hopefully–long NBA career. It’s very tough to judge his ceiling and project at what rate he will improve each year, and in all reality, unfair to take a guess. If we guess too low, it’s an insult to what he can do, and if we guess too high, we’ve put unrealistic expectations on the young big man. One has to assume that with the hot start he’s had though, he will improve and get closer and closer to that 25+ point and 10+ rebound season that Cousins put up last year.

Next: When Will The Sixers Begin Beating The NBA's Best?

Figuring out when Okafor will be an All-Star depends on a lot of factors. Will he stay healthy? Will he even be a Sixer? Assuming he stays with Philly, I think we can expect Okafor to be an All-Star on or before his fifth season in the league, but no sooner than his third. Like I said, it’s a bit unfair to gauge when he’s going to be at that level this early in his career, but with what we’ve seen from him and how truly impressive he is at such a young age, we have to assume there will be at least some improvement in each of the next few years, and that he will be at an All-Star level eventually within the next few years. He seems to be on a trajectory similar to Cousins, if not better.

Maybe Philly will be lucky enough to host the All-Star game the same year Okafor gets his debut.