The Official Los Angeles Lakers Thread

[Angel Oracle]

Just what are the scouts seeing in Okafor's offense?

Where was it in the Final Four?

Without Winslow and Jones, they don't win it all.

[xboom28x]

Just what are the scouts seeing in Okafor's offense?

Where was it in the Final Four?

Without Winslow and Jones, they don't win it all.

 

Without Dekker and Kaminsky, the Badgers don't win it all either. What's your point?

[Angel Oracle]

Point being that I was not seeing anything in Okafor's offensive game that cried out once in a decade interior offense potential, as the scouts are saying.

And he may well be closer to 6-10.

He will nightly be facing taller centers.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[xboom28x]

Are you basing this on the championship game?

[xboom28x]

Think about this... they are saying no one has come out with his offensive skills in the last 10 years. That includes Anthony Davis.

[Angel Oracle]

Basing it more on overall play during the season, and not denying he has offensive skill.

But nothing stood out to me that cried out once a decade like skill.

And part of it is lack of trust of Jimmy Bob.

He is liable to take anything hook, line, and sinker.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[Richard]

He has incredible footwork and speed for his size(to which he's still growing into). He soon will be able to push around anyone thrown in front of him, draw double teams, and free up shooters. He is an underrated passer.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

Even if he's closer to 6'10 that doesn't mean he can't play C in the NBA.  When you look at some of the players in the NBA their height is exaggerated slightly or listed with shoes on.  Okafor is also at about 270-275 lbs which weight wise makes him one of the bigger C's but he's still considered to have great footwork and agility for his size and a 7'5 wingspan.  He's also only 19 which means he may not be done growing and at least from a strength and muscle perspective he can definitely get stronger.  Shaq was a freak of nature between his size, speed and strength and there's no one like him in the NBA today.  It's not like Okafor is going to be playing against guys like Shaq, Hakeem or Ewing on a nightly basis.  

Edited June 23, 2015 by Catwhoshatinthehat

[henry]

Point being that I was not seeing anything in Okafor's offensive game that cried out once in a decade interior offense potential, as the scouts are saying.

And he may well be closer to 6-10.

He will nightly be facing taller centers.

Okafor didn't score in college because of size and brute force. He became the ACC player of the year because of his overall skill set. When I watched his highlights on youtube I saw a guy using his footwork to put himself in the position to make a routine 5 ft hook shot or even an easy layup on a daily basis. Maybe a boring skill, but a skill that is very rare in the NBA. I mean right now could anyone name 5 current NBA centers that has a better footwork than Okafor?

[Angel Oracle]

From one scouting report (http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jahlil-Okafor-6469/), which is pretty incriminating and indicates that he could give up as much as he scores in the NBA:

 

The biggest question marks around Okafor revolve around his play on the defensive end, where he was very inconsistent this season. He has the size, strength and length to be more than adequate if he puts his mind to it, and did show some flashes on this end of the floor from time to time, particularly as a post-defender.

With that said, Okafor typically looked far too lackadaisical on this end of the floor, jogging back nonchalantly and looking downright lazy in stretches. He gives up deep post-position too often and isn't aggressive enough looking to body his man when he does receive the ball, possibly out of fear of getting in foul trouble.

More concerning is how badly he struggles stepping outside of the paint in pick and roll situations, where he looks sluggish and slow-footed, showing poor awareness and being late to react on the fly. As gifted as he is offensively, he is almost just as poor on the other end of the floor. Duke was forced to play a very conservative style of defense on the pick and roll, with Okafor going way underneath screens to give himself a big enough cushion to recover and not get burned, which is certainly not ideal against the better guards he'll face in the NBA. He struggles hedging screens on the perimeter and certainly can't be asked to switch onto smaller players, as he already struggles in one on one situations against big men.

Not being particularly explosive, he offers very little in the way of rim-protection, which is a concern in today's NBA game where practically every team's defensive plan revolves around having a big man in the paint who can serve as an anchor, clean up mistakes and not allow easy baskets.
 

Edited June 23, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[xboom28x]

AO, if you are a one and done kid and you know that you are already looked at as a lottery pick, would you do anything to jeopardize that by taking chances and playing hard on both ends of the floor? Let's not kid ourselves. Yes, these kids want to win a championship because it's fun, but, at the same time, they don't want to blow out a knee or suffer any type of catastrophic injury hurting their chances of making millions.

 

I soured on Okafor earlier. There are really no signs that he will be a complete bust. He's 19. His upside is too great to pass up. He's not Benoit Benjamin.

[Angel Oracle]

One thing for sure, this week will define how people see Jimmy Bob going forward.

[HeavenlyHalos]

I can't imagine being able to get Cousins and the #6.

 

That's because they won't.

[HeavenlyHalos]

Okafor didn't score in college because of size and brute force. He became the ACC player of the year because of his overall skill set.

 

That and his size and brutal force.

[Richard]

One thing for sure, this week will define how people see Jimmy Bob going forward.

 

You can never feel good when you hear Melo being linked to the #2 pick.

[nando714]

You can never feel good when you hear Melo being linked to the #2 pick.

Hell no

[Stradling]

You can never feel good when you hear Melo being linked to the #2 pick.

I haven't heard about this. There is only one way I would consider this. If the Lakers traded the #2 pick and got Carmelo and their pick at 4, then I'd say go for it.

[Angel Oracle]

Carmelo is going to start his decline anytime now.

Oh h_ll to the no to that trade!

[Richard]

Read somewhere that names the lakers wanted in return in any deal were cousins, embiid, or melo. Sounds stupid, but this is the Lakers FO we're talking about.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

Out of those 3 names I hope the only one they're actually interested in is Cousins and that's only if the price is right which isn't likely.  Embiid could be out all of this year after missing last season with a foot injury (worrisome for a guy his size) and I have no interest in seeing Anthony on the Lakers and didn't want them to sign him when he was a FA.   It's been interesting seeing Anthony go from a freshman winning it all at Syracuse with a ridiculous performance in the tourney to a guy who seems more like a cancer on a team in the NBA.  

[Angel Oracle]

Joel Embiid = See Greg Oden.

[nando714]

It really sucks that free agency is after the draft

[nate]

Kevin Love officially opted out.  Would love to have him but I have a feeling that Jimmy will find some way to **** it up.

[nando714]

Kevin Love officially opted out. Would love to have him but I have a feeling that Jimmy will find some way to **** it up.

I feel ya nate

[xboom28x]

Kevin Love officially opted out.  Would love to have him but I have a feeling that Jimmy will find some way to **** it up.

 

He would be the perfect compliment to Towns. I'm not sure he compliments Okafor though. That would be a weak front court defensively.