Okafor, how bad were you wrong?

[celticsclay]

Just saw okafor is in the Mexican league. This is actually a step down from the Chinese league from what I understand. He was a very polarizing figure on these boards. Partly cause some had glamorized the process, partly cause there was a lose rumor we would trade for him (which I never believed). I know some posters like Moranis and larbrd were very high on him and we debated for pages at the time. Others like myself, tazz and our esteemed Nick never bought. Where did you all fall on the debate? Who was your biggest miss on a lottery pick? I failed pretty bad on noel. Always thought he would be something.

[Birdman]

Sad but see lot of players pick earlier out of college & don’t make it

[RockinRyA]

Just saw okafor is in the Mexican league. This is actually a step down from the Chinese league from what I understand. He was a very polarizing figure on these boards. Partly cause some had glamorized the process, partly cause there was a lose rumor we would trade for him (which I never believed). I know some posters like Moranis and larbrd were very high on him and we debated for pages at the time. Others like myself, tazz and our esteemed Nick never bought. Where did you all fall on the debate? Who was your biggest miss on a lottery pick? I failed pretty bad on noel. Always thought he would be something.

Never liked him, never bought in the gype. He looked slow to me and the motor was bad in college.

[Kernewek]

Thought he was going to be a discount 'Al Jefferson', which he sort of was. On the topic of the process, though, I think a lot of people underestimated just how miserable the situation was going to be in Hinkie's Philadelphia as they rushed off to play armchair GM while embracing non-competition in sport. And it was pretty damaging to a lot of players.

The NBA is a unique industry in a lot of ways, but one way it is not is in the way that a lot of your personal success as an employee (in this case a player) relies in large part on where you land and the environment you find yourself in when you get there.

Obviously there's a ceiling that separates the very best from the extremely good, and so on, but I'd hazard a guess that you're going to have a much better opportunity to stick around the league if you're drafted by a team that's perpetually competitive compared to, say, the Kings.

[SHAQATTACK]

I was suspicious he was a head case , wondered if he actually wanted to be a basketball player .

Just me I guess.  A lot of hype .

[Surferdad]

I liked Emeka.

[td450]

Thought he was going to be a discount 'Al Jefferson', which he sort of was. On the topic of the process, though, I think a lot of people underestimated just how miserable the situation was going to be in Hinkie's Philadelphia as they rushed off to play armchair GM while embracing non-competition in sport. And it was pretty damaging to a lot of players.

The NBA is a unique industry in a lot of ways, but one way it is not is in the way that a lot of your personal success as an employee (in this case a player) relies in large part on where you land and the environment you find yourself in when you get there.

Obviously there's a ceiling that separates the very best from the extremely good, and so on, but I'd hazard a guess that you're going to have a much better opportunity to stick around the league if you're drafted by a team that's perpetually competitive compared to, say, the Kings.

I generally find this to be untrue. It seems especially untrue in the NBA, where only the top 400 or so of the world's best get to play, from a field of literally millions of guys. You cannot get there unless you are able to demand opportunities in a wide variety of circumstances. Okafor had 3 roughly 2 year stints with different NBA teams and had some moments but never stuck. A third pick in particular, must actually define a team's identity, not be a victim of it.

The NBA is about mental toughness. It is what separates that last group from the thousands of guys who have the raw talent to make it.

[Kernewek]

Thought he was going to be a discount 'Al Jefferson', which he sort of was. On the topic of the process, though, I think a lot of people underestimated just how miserable the situation was going to be in Hinkie's Philadelphia as they rushed off to play armchair GM while embracing non-competition in sport. And it was pretty damaging to a lot of players.

The NBA is a unique industry in a lot of ways, but one way it is not is in the way that a lot of your personal success as an employee (in this case a player) relies in large part on where you land and the environment you find yourself in when you get there.

Obviously there's a ceiling that separates the very best from the extremely good, and so on, but I'd hazard a guess that you're going to have a much better opportunity to stick around the league if you're drafted by a team that's perpetually competitive compared to, say, the Kings.

I generally find this to be untrue. It seems especially untrue in the NBA, where only the top 400 or so of the world's best get to play, from a field of literally millions of guys. You cannot get there unless you are able to demand opportunities in a wide variety of circumstances. Okafor had 3 roughly 2 year stints with different NBA teams and had some moments but never stuck. A third pick in particular, must actually define a team's identity, not be a victim of it.

The NBA is about mental toughness. It is what separates that last group from the thousands of guys who have the raw talent to make it.

It's possible that you're right - but you are talking about two different things to my conjecture here.

One, you're comparing NBA players to guys who never make the league, which is silly and irrelevant

and two, you're applying the survivor bias of 'mental toughness' to get into the NBA vs guys who never made it in... which is, again, not really relevant to what I'm proposing. Yes the absolute cream rises to the top, but we're talking about a Jahlil Okafor, not a Joel Embiid.

For anyone who has more time than I do:

What I'm wondering - I don't have the answer owing to a lack of time and no one has really measured this - is whether there's a tangible difference in an NBA player's career over the last let's say 20 years if they wind up on the Spurs or on the Wizards.

As in, the average NBA career is X years long. What I'd want to test is whether a player drafted by San Antonio between 1999-2019 your average career winds up being X + Y, whereas if you are drafted by Sacramento your average career winds up being X - Z.

[edit; finishing this sentence, sorry]
Since there's common knowledge that there's a difference in 'winning culture' within organisations, it'd be interesting to see if this has any 'real world' effects.

[Donoghus]

Thought he was a decent player who would've been better served being born about 20 years earlier. 

I do recall thinking the Sixers were absolutely idiots for drafting him so at least I was right in that regard.

[bogg]

Just saw okafor is in the Mexican league. This is actually a step down from the Chinese league from what I understand. He was a very polarizing figure on these boards.

For accuracy's sake, Okafor is playing in the G-League. The G-League now has a team in Mexico City that Big NBA is kinda-sorta running as a trial balloon for possible NBA expansion down the line.

[Goldstar88]

I liked Emeka.

Yeah, I’m not sure which Okafor the OP is referencing. Emeka was decent. Can’t believe he’s 40 now. Time flies…

[Surferdad]

Thought he was a decent player who would've been better served being born about 20 years earlier. 

I do recall thinking the Sixers were absolutely idiots for drafting him so at least I was right in that regard.

The Process, ha. "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut (Embiid) every once in a while."

[Celtics2021]

I was not a fan of Okafor, so I was not wrong about that.  I was all about Justise Winslow that year, however, so I can claim to be very correct, either.  Cauley-Stein was another top 10 binkie.

[RockinRyA]

I liked Emeka.

Yeah, I’m not sure which Okafor the OP is referencing. Emeka was decent. Can’t believe he’s 40 now. Time flies…

I dont think Emeka ever played for the Sixers

[A Future of Stevens]

Just saw okafor is in the Mexican league. This is actually a step down from the Chinese league from what I understand. He was a very polarizing figure on these boards.

For accuracy's sake, Okafor is playing in the G-League. The G-League now has a team in Mexico City that Big NBA is kinda-sorta running as a trial balloon for possible NBA expansion down the line.

TP. I was just going to mention this. It is definitely better than the Chinese Bball league, but I would assume its still worse than Europe. I know the G league has made huge strides in terms of talent level, but I am unsure about this specific team due to the trial basis of it.

And in terms of what I thought of Okafor, I thought he would be at least a 20 and 8 guy. I worried the league would move away from him, but at that time there were still the Al Jefferson/Kanter type guys. Okafor's upside was a super charged version of that. Huge back to the basket center with great touch. I was wrong.

That top 10 is kind of terrible in hindsight. KAT was a good 1st pick, but now questions are bubbling up about him. D-Lo doesn't win and Porzingis has had injury trouble. Then Hezonja, WCS, Mudiay, Stanley are all terrible. Winslow appears to be an NBA player, but you kind of want more than that at 10. Booker saves the class as a whole. I was a Hezonja guy and yikes was I wrong.