The Interview That Set It Straight
I cannot do better describing the details of the selection of Jahlil Okafor than Sam Hinkie himself. And so, into the archives we go, and the interview after the fact that spelled it all out for us. I urge you to read the entire interview, it’s worth it.:
"On whether Joel Embiid’s injury status affected the team’s decision at #3 “I would like to think we would have the courage to do it anyway, I really do. It’s kind of hard to know because I knew and it’s hard to un-know where things stood with Joel, but I’d like to think we would have had the courage anyway. For example, some of the things we have paid attention to and tried to collect information on give us some confidence that, like, there are some things that can work even in these pairings, that there are things that can really work, like watching Nerlens start the year largely playing the four and then play the middle two thirds of the year or so at the five and then go back and play some five at the end. You get a sense of his defensive versatility and the kinds of things he can do and the kinds of things he needs to get better at."