Despite closing out last season in the four spot, I expect Okafor to play center for the most part this season, as I said earlier. Okafor had a stellar rookie year, in my opinion, but I think he can do more.
The biggest question with Okafor since he has come into the league has been his defensive abilities. Although he wasn’t a lock-down defender nor a rim protector last year by any means, he did excel defending in the post, forcing his opposition to shoot about 5 percent less when he was guarding them in the post.
Still, Okafor didn’t have much of a rim protecting ability, and was a bit of a liability when he was away from the hoop. So clearly, Okafor would be wise to focus on improving in those areas.
Another area that will make Okafor a huge weapon is if he improves his shooting range. Last year, he shot at least 35 percent from the field up to 16 feet away from the hoop, but dropped down to 27 percent between 16 feet and the 3-point line. So, for next season, if he can improve that even to just 30 percent, he would make himself a huge threat to opposing defenses.
If Okafor is a threat to make shots from 16 feet any beyond, the defense will have to come out and challenge him. Usually, from that distance, it’s going to be one player challenging him, and Okafor almost always wins his one-on-one match-ups. He will blow right by those players and muscle through them if he has to.
Lastly, Okafor needs to learn to pass a bit more out of the paint. Okafor often got the ball last season and kept it in his hands, but if the offense flowed through him it would be a truly great improvement.
Part of the reason Okafor didn’t really pass last season was because there wasn’t many shooting weapons or scoring weapons on the team besides Okafor. This year, however, with more weapons and more shooters, Okafor has to pass to make the center position as effective as possible.
Next: Nerlens Noel