Why Jahlil Okafor Can Help The New Orleans Pelicans

With reports the Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans exploring potential moves for center Jahlil Okafor, the move actually makes sense for the Pels.

Could it finally happen? With the trade deadline just around the corner, the rumor mills are churning out the juiciest speculation. This entire season has led up to this moment: a trade at the center position. Particularly, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jahlil Okafor has the floor.

Now, at the beginning of the season it seemed as though Jahlil Okafor’s job security remained pretty safe. In fact, most thought that his teammate and fellow center Nerlens Noel could get moved. Obviously, over time those rumors faltered off. In fact, it’s Jahlil Okafor who will be moved.

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This did not seem likely at first. Given his age and contract situation, most favored Okafor over Noel. In addition, Noel began to speak out about the center situation. On the record, he would complain about the lack of minutes. On the other hand, Okafor always kept his mouth shut when it came to the center logjam. If anything, you gotta give him props for that.

With that said, that sort of divide didn’t show itself on the court. But, you can easily see the difference in both of their playing styles. Nerlens Noel plays a much more defensive-oriented style of ball, dependent on putbacks on the other end. Jahlil Okafor’s game is predicated on his post games in addition to his ball handling. These differences have shown throughout the season.

Anyway, Nerlens Noel ended up winning over the Philadelphia 76ers front office. With that came the search for a trade partner for either Jah or Nercules. Many potential partners have come about. Particularly, rumors came about involving the Philadelphia 76ers and the Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, and most recently the New Orleans Pelicans.

Why It Makes Sense

So, now that Jah has gotten the Pels’ interest, the Sixers need to capitalize on it. The premise behind trading for Jah revolves around New Orleans’ centerpiece: Anthony Davis. In short, adding Jahlil Okafor helps bolster a weak front court.

By adding Jah, the Pelicans get a proven scoring big. Particularly they get a true center, something they haven’t had since Tyson Chandler. With Jahlil, you improve your offense immediately.

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Offensively, a Jahlil Okafor-Anthony Davis combination has potential. It might sound harsh at first, but Anthony Davis’s talent makes anyone else around him look good. When paired with a guy like Terrence Jones, for instance, their effective shooting percentage comes to a team-best 42 percent. He works well with versatile bigs, even if they don’t have a consistent jumper. Not to mention the fact AD averages 27.8 points per game, 12.2 rebounds per game, and 2.2 assists per game.

Now, some will argue that this move does not make sense for the New Orleans Pelicans. Particularly, the argument tends to skew into defensive territory. Critics believe that Jahlil Okafor’s defensive woes outweigh the offensive benefits. Well, it turns out that statistically Okafor has improved on defense.

For instance, this season Jah’s defensive box plus/minus is at 0.2. This puts him above his previous season’s statistic at -1.5 (a rating of 2.0 indicates that of an average NBA player, and -2.0 an average D-League player).. A number of factors could affect this statistic, but it does support the idea that Jah has seen steady improvement. This by no means indicates that he has become a defensive juggernaut, but at least it’s something.

Full-time Center Duty

Another area where this trade helps the New Orleans Pelicans involves the front court pairing of Jah and AD. Once you add Okafor to the mix, you don’t have to play Davis at the 5 anymore. You can move the Brow to his natural position at the 4.

This movement creates the threat of AD as a stretch 4. This season, 24.3 percent of Anthony Davis’ shots have come from mid-range. Now, that doesn’t seem like a lot, but you have to remember that he plays a different role for New Orleans at the moment. His job currently revolves around doing basically everything. He does so much for this Pelicans team that he needs help.

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Now, we might all think that Anthony Davis can work as a one man wreaking crew, but that only gets you so far. By adding Jahlil Okafor to the mix, you get a guy who can take it inside with the best of them. This opens up the opportunity for Anthony Davis to work from the outside. Ideally, a trade here would make both sides very happy. Hopefully, finding Jahlil Okafor a home will make his career and the future of the Philadelphia 76ers that much better.