Joel Embiid And Jahlil Okafor Will Dominate Together

When Jahlil Okafor and Joel Embiid finally get to play together, they will dominate for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The famous R & B singer Ne-Yo said it best in the song Make Me Better when he said, “I’m a movement by myself, But I’m a force when we’re together.” In basketball terms, Joel Embiid (if healthy) and Jahlil Okafor would both be amazing players without each other, but together they’d be an absolute force that cannot be stopped.

Many people question their fit but I think they are almost perfect for each other on the Philadelphia 76ers. The only concern about this tandem is how it will work defensively and the more I think about it, the less worried about it I am. Since defense is what people are concerned about I’ll talk about that first.

Defense:

More from The Sixer Sense

Contrary to popular belief, Okafor was not the reason the Philadelphia 76ers became a much worse defensive team in 2015-16 than the year prior. The main reasons the team became worse on defense is because:

Michael Carter-Williams who was having an elite defensive season in 2014-15 was traded and guys like Isaiah Canaan and T.J. McConnell (undrafted rookie) took over the defensive responsibilities. Ish Smith came on board as well and he isn’t anything special defensively either.
Luc Mbah a Moute who was a great defender and could guard positions one through four was not brought back. He is now a main cog on a Los Angeles Clippers team that has a real chance to win it all, in my opinion. This was a major loss defensively for the 76ers.
The best defender and rim protector on the team Nerlens Noel didn’t play his natural position consistently until February. When you take your best rim protector away from the rim then it’s a no brainer the defense will get worse. Especially when you replace him with a rookie who isn’t praised for defense.

The defense getting worse had much more to do with general manager and coaching decisions than Okafor being bad at it. Considering age (was 19 to start the season), experience (just a rookie), and the team around him (terrible guard defenders), Okafor had an average defensive season in my eyes. When a player is on a team that is a winning anomaly like the 15-16 Golden State Warriors or a losing anomaly like the 15-16 76ers, the individual’s advanced statistics has a great chance of being skewed whether it’s in a good way or a bad way.

While the team defense did get worse when Okafor was moved to power forward in early February, it is the best move the team could’ve made for the future and it should’ve been done much earlier in the season. Making such a big move in the middle of the season made the defense worse, as expected. Okafor was new to playing that position and as Josh Wilson pointed out, the was a lot of miscommunication defensively, specifically between Noel and Okafor.

The defense didn’t get worse when Okafor moved to power forward because of athleticism, talent , or ability in my eyes. It was just plain old miscommunication and the effects of being new to a position. This is why it was a shame Okafor’s season ended early because I truly believe he would have shown he can play the four spot with more time. It’s also a shame because that’s a lot of in-game experience lost. Okafor only played 53 games of an 82 game season.

The reason I’m talking about how Noel and Okafor played on defense in an article about Okafor and Embiid is because analyzing how Okafor and Noel on defense is sort of a preview or indicator to what Okafor and Embiid will be like on defense together. I say that because I think Embiid and Noel will be similar as far as defense and rim protecting from the center position.

The video above shows Okafor can move and use his long arms in the most efficient way possible so I think if you give these guys a couple years to gel, it won’t even be a question down the line about if they can play together defensively. I think Okafor will hold his own at the four spot and even if his man beats him they will have to meet 7’2″ Embiid last the rim.

Getting good defenders on the wing and at the point guard spot would also take a lot of pressure of the bigs leading to better team defense. Drafting Brandon Ingram and Kris Dunn would be a very big step in that direction. I would not be concerned one bit defensively if a lineup of Dunn, Ingram, Robert Covington, Okafor, and Embiid was trotted out for example.

Offense:

There is no question in my mind that Okafor and Embiid together on offense will be unstoppable in a few years if not next season. While Okafor’s defense suffered from making a position swap in the middle of the season, his offense got even better. In Okafor’s last ten games played which was during the time he started playing power forward, he averaged 24.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.67 assists with a True Shooting Percentage of 60.3% per 36 minutes. He also had an offensive rating of 109 during that stretch, 10 points more than his number for the season.

If those aren’t elite numbers, I don’t know what is. Keep in mind Okafor posted these numbers playing next to Noel. While Noel and Embiid are comparable on defense, there is no comparison on offense. Embiid has much better touch, post moves, and shooting skill than Noel which is why he’d be perfect next to Okafor on offense. Embiid being such a threat to score unlike Noel would make the tandem deadly. Before, teams could lay off Noel and double Okafor because Noel was not a threat to score. With Embiid on the other hand, if Okafor gets doubled Embiid can knock down the jumpshots when passed to him and if the opponent recovers from guarding Okafor and goes back to defend Embiid, Embiid could do a quick move and get an easy bucket which Noel can’t do.

Okafor’s jumpshot has improved much faster than fans thought so if it is the other way around, and Embiid is doubled, Okafor could knock down the jumpshot as well or post his man up if they recover. Putting three more shooters around Embiid and Okafor would make the team even more unstoppable. If the opposition leaves a defender alone on the block guarding Embiid or Okafor, it’s an easy two points or trip to the line. If they double either of them, the same thing might happen or it will be a kick-out pass to a wing or the point guard for a three.

Next: Nerlens Needs Offense to Become All-Star

At the end of the day basketball is about who can score on who more while stopping the others from scoring. If these guys reach their full potential, it would be hard to find a lineup in the last ten years that could score more on a lineup featuring Embiid and Okafor.