Jahlil Okafor Was The Right Pick

The recent D’Angelo Russell debacle has cemented the fact that Jahlil Okafor was the correct pick for the Philadelphia 76ers.

I can’t tell you how many times over the past year I have defended the 76ers pick of Jahlil Okafor over D’Angelo Russell. I understand that Russell was taken prior to the Sixers selection, but it seemed that prior to the draft everyone in Philadelphia was dying to get their hands on the 19-year old Point Guard from Ohio State. I was not one of those people.

On the basketball side of things I was not impressed with the lack of explosion, proper decision making, and mass amount of turnovers that Russell would provide his future NBA Franchise. After Russell’s recent two month span where he has been wildy impressive I thought I could have been all wrong about him. Fortunately or unfortunately I may have been right in one sense.

Perhaps more concerning to me about Russell besides his lack of athleticism and decision making was his attitude. There’s a fine line between cocky and confident and it seemed Russell more often that not significantly crossed that line. Russell seemed like the type of player that if things were not going the right way he could be toxic to an NBA franchise. Well, that prediction seems to be coming to fruition.

Unless you are living under a rock you have more than likely heard about the extreme turmoil in Los Angeles over Russell releasing a recording he made of former Sixer Nick Young also known as Swaggy P. In this recording it talks about Young being with plenty of women. Young’s playboy ways would be fine if he wasn’t engaged to Australian rapper/pop-star Iggy Azalea.

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This recording has created a media storm that appears to be the main reason Young and Azalea’s engagement will be broken off. Many may think “Swaggy P is a scumbag for cheating and deserves what he gets.” I dont disagree with that point, but it is concerning that Russell could be behind this issue regardless of what his intentions were.

Reports from Lakers camp are that Russell is now completely ostracized from much of the team due to breaking the NBA players “code of silence.” This leaked video will inevitably lead to Russell trying to gain back the trust from his teammates, and will lead to him having to prove that he can be trustworthy to all future teammates. This kind of media fiasco is exactly what the Sixers could not handle given the current highly scrutinized “tank” we are in the process of.

Now I know Jahlil Okafor is not the most mature player and has had his fair share of problems, but I feel all of your current and future teammates not trusting you is a much bigger issue. Being a locker room cancer is potentially the worst kind of young star to have.

Jahlil Okafor has not been perfect on the court or off, but he is definitely being more scrutinized on the court than he should be. This past year’s draft proved to be one of the most unique in history. It produced more high level post players than I can ever remember seeing. If it were not for Karl-Anthony Towns being the superstar he appears to be, and Kristaps Porzingis surprising the world, then Jahlil Okafor would look like one of the biggest steals at the third pick in NBA history.

Just by looking at stats Jahlil Okafor has been not as impressive as Karl-Anthony Towns and slightly better than Kristaps Porzingis. Towns is averaging 18.3 points per game, 10.3 rebounds per game, 1.7 blocks per game, 55 percent shooting from the field, and 83 percent from free throw.

Those number are unbelievably impressive from a rookie big man and put him in the same breath as some of the greats in their rookie seasons (Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

Kristaps Porzingis is averaging 14.3 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game, 1.9 blocks per game 42 percent shooting from the field and 84 percent from the line. Okafor, after his season ending injury, finished with averages of 17.5 points per game, 7.0 rebounds per game, 1.2 blocks per game, 50 percent shooting from the field, and 69 percent from the line.

Like I said before this draft is an absolute anomaly. No draft that I can remember delivered such high level big men that produced such staggering stats. Take out Towns and Porzingis and Okafor is the player the media is talking about.

Don’t for a minute second guess the Okafor selection in the draft. Also don’t ask for him to be traded. The people who say the day of the back to the basket big man is dead are wrong. Everyone has rushed to try and create a Warriors-like team. They may be great, but let’s not forget the San Antonio Spurs, a team with a ton of big men, just beat the Warriors.

Their size and skill of their big men frustrated the Warriors and exposed their only weakness and that is size down low. Instead of conforming to the Warriors model of basketball why don’t teams counteract that by throwing as many skilled big men at them as possible and asking for Warriors to defend them?

Next: Sixers Need One Special Player

I believe the Sixers could be thinking the same thing with their big men, and are well on their way to building a strong team around young impressive post players. That started with the correct draft pick in the 2015 NBA Draft… Jahlil Okafor.