Jahlil Okafor is a player that hasn’t blew my mind yet. Yes I admit he put up some good numbers during Summer League but unless the player is either undrafted or picked in the second round, you sort of expect a number 2 pick to do well in Summer League, let’s be honest.
So it’s on to his Rookie season, he is part of a Philadelphia 76ers team that has Nerlens Noel (the rightful ROTY) and that’s about it, Tony Wroten and Joel Embiid are still recovering from their respective injuries. So it’s safe to say that Jahlil will have free reign to go in and get his fill. Okafor has recently talked about his role, which he considers pretty simple. Dominate.
Okafor won’t have much help as he begins his NBA journey. Nerlens Noel, a wiry first-team all-rookie power forward, is expected to serve as a defensive complement to Okafor, but the 76ers currently only have four other players on the roster selected in the first round. And, Joel Embiid, the third pick of the 2014 draft, won’t make his NBA debut for at least another season after reportedly re-breaking the same right foot that caused the 7-foot center to miss all of last season. Okafor doesn’t believe his responsibilities to the organization will change with Embiid sidelined.
“My role is to dominate,” Okafor said. “I’m one of the centerpieces of the team, so my role is the same.”
He knows that his team is still garbage, so he has the opportunity to team up with Nerlens and absolutely go off on the league. Even if they have another tanking season, he will have a chance to have a great Rookie season and possibly contend for Rookie of the Year.
