Much is being talked about how Jahlil Okafor doesn’t fit on the Philadelphia 76ers roster, especially with Ben Simmons, but is there any way he could fit?
The Philadelphia 76ers have an important season ahead of them. As they debut their top overall pick in Ben Simmons this year, look to win more games, and look to figure out who to build their roster around, there’s reason to believe that this season may be the most important season of their entire rebuilding era thus far.
This season determines a ton, and this season leaves a lot to be accomplished. Are more games being won? Are players making improvements in areas that they lacked in previously? Is the team gelling nicely?
One of the things that should be determined is which big man the Sixers want to keep and build around. Over the last several seasons, Sam Hinkie has acquired several young, high-ceiling prospects, but many have been big men. With Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor all on the same roster, there’s reason to believe one of them will be moved eventually. All are solid players deserving of starter minutes.
Although it would have been nice to clear that logjam before this season, there’s also an advantage to keeping everyone around this season. The Sixers can now see which big man will work best alongside Ben Simmons, who is likely going to be the piece they build around moving forward. Whether it be at the trade deadline, or next offseason, the Sixers can use their knowledge of who works best with Simmons to decide who they should keep.
Although Nerlens Noel seems to be the best choice for Simmoms on the surface, if we look a bit deeper, we can see that Okafor may be a solid offensive compliment to Ben.
Next: How they don't fit
Shortcomings
Although Simmons and Okafor do have some areas that they compliment each other (theoretically) in, there’s also areas where they can be liabilities on the floor together. Although this post mainly is focusing on how they could potentially be a power duo, it would be foolish to ignore the negatives that can be brought about by the two of them being on the same team.
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The most obvious thing that comes up with the two is defensive liabilities. Simmons is a smart, talented young player, but has been praised most for things on the offensive side of the ball. Okafor is the same way. Simmons has never been looked at as an awful defender, but Okafor has (although that criticism is arguably not totally warranted).
The two of them leading a front court could be devastating for the Sixers, as it would be easy for dominant big men to muscle their way inside the paint since neither of the two offer up much of a rim protecting ability.
Additionally, an issue that could come up (but seems less likely) is the issues that could arise from the the two of them being used to being focal points of the offense. Simmons is used to being the player that initiates the offense and gets it flowing, using his high-level passing ability. Okafor is used to being the main scorer on the offense he’s involved in.
This could lead to leadership power trips, but I don’t think it’s likely. Since Simmoms does passing, and Okafor does scoring, I think there’s many instances where the two will compliment each other nicely.
Next: Iso Okafor
Example
— Joshua Wilson (@joshwilsonpics) August 8, 2016
The first few situations involve Simmons and Okafor starting their offense on opposite sides of the floor. Although Simmons seems to encourage a faster paced offensive style with more fast breaks (something that Brett Brown seems to encourage) Okafor is known to slow the offense down.
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If Simmons and Okafor were on the floor together, there would have to be fewer fast breaks and a lower pace, as addressed earlier. Simmons and Okafor would need to set up on opposite sides of the floor. Simmons should be on the right, and Okafor on the left, where he generally had more success this past season.
This first situation is one that takes advantage of the likelihood that a motioned Simmons will attract defenders. This could easily set Okafor up for an isolation play, where he does his best work. Here, Simmons will start on the wing, with the ball, and dribble in towards the key. Okafor will come in to the lower half of the circle or closer, looking for a pass as he is matched one-on-one because of Simmons attracting most of the opposition.
Okafor can go right for the rim, or dribble in if he needs to. Since Okafor attracts double teams of his own, there’s reason to believe he might have a second defender quickly on him, in which case he may turn the ball over, (thus rendering this entire thing useless) or he could find Simmons, who would be out of his double team at this point to start the offense over again.
Next: Isolation wrinkle
Example
— Joshua Wilson (@joshwilsonpics) August 8, 2016
The second scenario involves the same setup, with a little variation added in. Simmons moving on the right side of the floor will bring over some of the opposition, and shift the defense from the left to the right, leaving Okafor open on the left, perhaps with just his defender on him. In this, however, there’s a wrinkle with an added pass at the top of the 3-point line.
The ball will go first to the player at the top of the arc, and hopefully they are a solid 3-point shooter — this further emphasizes why surrounding the Sixers’ front court with shooters is important — so that the defense is concerned enough to move attention towards the player at the top of the key.
The ball being at the top of the key may throw Okafor’s man off, leaving him even more open. The Sixers teammate at the top of the key can then put the ball with Okafor for a fairly easy one-on-one situation to get to the bucket and score.
On the contrary, since Simmons is such a good passer, I have confidence in his ability to get the ball from one side of the floor to the other, which is why I drew in an alternate initial pass for the Sixers.
Next: A cutting Okafor
Example
— Joshua Wilson (@joshwilsonpics) August 8, 2016
In this scenario, again, Okafor is lined up on the left, and Simmons on the right. For this situation, I’ve added in some extra defenders and dud offensive players to make the situation more realistic.
The issue here is we’re building a play around Simmons and Okafor, and basically stripping the identity to the three other Sixers on the floor to a red dot. This is mainly because they wouldn’t pertain to this situation, but I still think it just goes to show how poorly Okafor and Simmons may fit together. If we’re forgetting about all other players to try and make two players fit together, that may be a red flag.
Nonetheless, let’s move forward with this situation.
Here, we’ve got al lot of players lined on the right side of the floor, leaving simply Okafor to work the left. Although this is not his strong suit, he is going to cut into the key and Simmons is going to hit him with a pass. Since the Sixers have most of their players on the right side — and subsequently, the opposing players who were tasked with guarding them — Okafor will be set up nicely in an isolation play.
Okafor will have the opportunity to get to the basket swiftly as soon as he receives the pass, and should be able to get an easy two points, and possibly draw a foul as well.
The only downside here is that this play will probably only work once or twice a night. Aside from the first or second time they do it, as soon as opposing teams see the Sixers take a stance on the right side only, besides Okafor, they’re going to know the plan is to get the ball from Simmons to Jah.
This is why, again, having more shooters as weapons will help because Simmons will have more options once Jahlil is shut down, at least in this setting.
Next: Simmons running like McConnell
Example
— Joshua Wilson (@joshwilsonpics) August 8, 2016
This last setup for Jahlil is one that is similar to what we saw from T.J. McConnell often last year. McConnell often passed the ball off and then continued to stay in motion even after he passed. This often left McConnell available as an option for a pass if the person he originally gave the ball to was in a pickle.
Here, Simmons would pass the ball to Jah in the high(ish) post. From here, Jah has several options. He proved last year he has a solid jumper from that range, so he could step back and shoot. He also could drive in to the basket, or could put his back to the hoop and utilize some solid spin moves that he has developed into solid weapons in his offensive arsenal.
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The nice thing about this play is what Simmons will be doing after he passes the ball. Simmons is going to choose one of four options drawn out on the court to further help Okafor. The first two really just get him and his defenders away from Okafor, giving him the best possible chances to get an isolation and score. The third and fourth options keep him closer to the play and more involved as a passing option if Okafor gets stuck.
Next: How these plays help Simmons
How this helps Simmons
All of these ways are mainly ways that Okafor can be helped by Simmons. For them to be a true power duo, and for Okafor to be considered anything more than a parasite to Simmoms and the Sixers, he needs to help Simmoms in return. Thankfully, even through these plays, he is helping Simmons.
Simmons heads into this season with the skill set to be a point guard, but the Sixers will be playing him in the four slot since the point guard spot is the hardest one to play in the NBA. Simmons’ high-level passing ability and incredible vision leads us all to believe that someday he will be the starting point guard of the Sixers, but we can’t say for sure until we see him succeed doing point guard-like things for the Sixers.
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Having Okafor on the floor with Simmons gives him a reliable person to dump the ball of to and demonstrate his passing to, thus moving his career along faster and getting himself in the point guard slot faster. One of Nerlens Noel’s biggest issues is that he has trouble catching passes, so anything from Simmons to Noel is at a liability of getting dropped. Okafor, on the other hand, has pretty solid hands.
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I think, although this duo does have defensive issues, and Noel may fit a little bit better, we shouldn’t knock the possibility of Okafor and Simmons being on the floor together at some point this upcoming season.