Los Angeles Lakers
With Kobe Bryant gone and new head coach Luke Walton ready to start a new era of Los Angeles Lakers basketball, the Lakers could be a team to target. Walton has a lot of great young pieces to start with D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr., and Julius Randle. Also, that line up could be a killer small ball lineup if Randle or Nance can learn to defend center. However, lets not get side tracked, how could Okafor help this young team?
In the offseason, the Lakers signed 7-footer Timofey Mozgov to be the what Andrew Bogut was to the Golden State Warriors during his seasons with them. Two NBA Finals ago, Mozgov was really able to push the small line up of the Warriors. However, this past season Mozgov a shell of his former self due to injury.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/31/2016.
The drop of in stats could be due to recovering from surgery after the 2015 season and a decrease of playing time. The other concern with Mozgov is that he going to be 30 during this season and will not be able to grow with young Lakers roster. The question becomes, why would Okafor be a good fit for a fast pace team like the Lakers are going to become?
Okafor is a player that is best used on offense on the low block. Mozgov is similar in that regard, but Okafor is a much better offensive player and he is also much younger than the Mozgov so he does provide intrigue. There is a prevailing thought is that Okafor a poor defender but how does he compare with Mozgov?
| Rk | Player | Season | G | PER | DRB% | TRB% | STL% | BLK% | DWS | WS | WS/48 | DBPM | BPM | VORP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timofey Mozgov | 2015-16 | 76 | 14.6 | 19.2 | 14.4 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 3.7 | .133 | 1.0 | -1.2 | 0.3 |
| 2 | Jahlil Okafor | 2015-16 | 53 | 17.1 | 17.8 | 12.8 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 1.2 | .037 | -1.5 | -4.1 | -0.8 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/31/2016.
Okafor trails Mozgov in defensive rebounding, steal, and block percentages which is concerning at first glance. Okafor trails Mozgov by only small percentages, so it might not make a huge difference. Also, this was Okafor’s first season and most players improve their defensive stats, so lets not give up on him. He also trails in defensive win shares but that may be because Okafor was on the league’s worst team, and Mozgov was on the championship team.
Before the trade scenario can be discussed, the disclaimer must be put out there that there have been trade rumors about the Lakers and the Sixers basically since Russell and Okafor were drafted with the second and third picks of the 2015 draft. But recently there have not been rumors between the two teams.
In order for the Lakers to bring Okafor over they would either have to send Russell or Ingram along with lifting the protection on the draft pick that is due to the Sixers from the Michael Carter-Williams trade. Ingram would be the preferred options with the lack of depth at small forward.
Next: Portland Trail Blazers