Watching Okafor

In watching Okafor today, I think that Ainge passing on acquiring this guy and use the DPE on him was a great move.

He is still what he was two seasons ago, and has not grown much at all.  He is no closer to being a NBA center in the space
and pace world of current NBA basketball offense.  Baynes is also not the current NBA type of offensive center, but at least he plays much
tougher and much better defense.

Sometimes the trades you don't make........?

I don't think we have a real clear idea of how Danny thinks and then makes his decisions. We keep bandying about names like Okafor and Noels, and every time Danny passes them over. Okafor has never been a good fit for this team, He was just a name that was available. If Danny makes another move it will be as surprising and as eventful as Kyrie for IT and Jae. Sometimes the trades you don't make. Indeed!

wideclyde wrote:In watching Okafor today, I think that Ainge passing on acquiring this guy and use the DPE on him was a great move.

He is still what he was two seasons ago, and has not grown much at all.  He is no closer to being a NBA center in the space
and pace world of current NBA basketball offense.  Baynes is also not the current NBA type of offensive center, but at least he plays much
tougher and much better defense.

Sometimes the trades you don't make........?

Albeit, I do not think that Okafor would be a good fit for the C's, I don't think it's fair to assess him from this one game. After all, how many months, not weeks, has he been a DNPCD? There's a lot of rust on there, and from various sources, he was not even a participant in the 76ers' practices. There's no question that he has NBA level talent, it's just a matter of where he'd best fit in. IMHO the chasm between him and the 76ers had more to do with contract and $ than with his playing ability.

Okafor could help Boston. We've got shooters, what we need is someone who can operate in the low post and score; that's Okafor.

The thing is, he's merely adequate as a rebounder, and that's possibly our greatest need.

I think there's a greater chance of someday watching Okafor in the Chinese League than on the Celtics. He would be an upgrade on Yabusele for fifth big. He would also be insurance for the dinosaur role if Baynes moves on. Ojeleye and Yabusele are very weak for end of rotation players. They are too raw.

Even if everyone stays healthy, Danny needs to add at least one more rotation player for this year. He owes it to Al Horford. Amir Johnson simply ran out of juice. There were too many miles on his NBA tires. A healthy veteran like him would be nice. I'm looking for nothing fancy but a tough enough player and not completely useless like a Jason Collins. Maybe bring back Perk.

Danny brought Antoine back for a second stint. You never know with him is right.

Interesting article with Okafor, by the person behind the the player. He understood his situation with Philly - they had decided  to go with their other players, thus they were heading in a different direction. It was business, nothing personal and he coped with the situation as best as he could, professionally, and he held no grudges.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/jahlil-okafor-on-your-radar/

Also, from the Nets' site:

http://www.nba.com/nets/news/2017/01/08/jahlil-okafor-growing-confidence