In contrast to Noel = Noel's skill-set in terms of high level defense & rebounding, ability to make his teammates better, character and leadership potential .... all are characteristics seen much more frequently in centers on top teams & Championship winning teams.
Kendrick Perkins, Andrew Bogut, Tyson Chandler ... these are championship centers.
They're also not players you can build a team around.
I don't think Perkins or an old Bogut are good comparisons to Noel. Neither player has the type of defensive quickness to impact and dominate a game the way Noel can.
I do think Tyson Chandler is a good comparison. Those two share a lot of similar qualities and I think it is a flattering comparison for Noel.
A Championship winning player. A key figure in the title winning side. I consider Tyson the 2nd most important player on that team. A player who has had a big impact on improving teams and playing winning basketball everywhere he went. I think this is a good comparison for Noel. And like Noel, even as a rookie, as a teenager you could see the same leadership qualities in Tyson Chandler. Every time Tyson stepped on the floor you could see the effort level and focus increase for everyone around him. His energy and effort inspired others. The strong believes in defense and rebounding. The foundation was always there. He was a winner (winning mentality and style of play) from Day One in the NBA. Like Noel was and is.
Others could be Ben Wallace. Dikembe Mutombo. Nate Thurmond.
To the Holy Grail of Bill Russell.
Players with similar styles of play and characteristics. Obviously with different levels of ability & understanding (Russell one of B'ball's gods) to go along with those traits.
Nerlens Noel as a young player shares those characteristics as a player. He can be a Championship winning center like Tyson Chandler or a Ben Wallace. He can be one of the great winners of his generation. He is a special player who with continued hard work can achieve great things in this league.
I've said before, I think the Big Al comparison gets made too often with big men who are heavy on post scoring and struggle defensively.
To me, he seems more like an amalgam of traits I've seen in big men like Pau Gasol and Brook Lopez. Those seem like better comps, too, because those guys, like Jahlil are around seven feet tall. Jahlil is not an undersized center, unlike Big Al.
Demarcus Cousins was talked about in much the same way, earlier in his career. Jahlil doesn't have the same physical tools Cousins does, but I think he'll improve on the defensive end, as Cousins (and Big Al, and Pau) did.
I don't think Pau Gasol is a good comparison. Pau had much more quickness and mobility as a young player and at his peak than J.Okafor has. Cousins also has much better lateral quickness, end-to-end quickness and agility than Okafor. That separates them.
I think Brook Lopez is a good comparison. I would say that B.Lopez has vacillated between Eddy Curry level performance and Al Jefferson level impact during his career. I considered Big Al a more flattering comparison for J.Okafor because Big Al has had more sustained success in the NBA than B.Lopez has had (due to Brook's injuries and inconsistent effort levels).
I'm very interested to see what happens with Greg Monroe in Milwaukee -- another player who doesn't have the "championship qualities" you mention. With Jabari, Giannis, and Monroe, they've got the nucleus of a very good team. I'd love to see them become one of the very best in the East for a while and shatter the notion that a team can't succeed with a guy like that at center. Because I think it's nonsense.
Monroe also has much more quickness and mobility than Okafor ... which helps give Monroe mpre capacity / potential as a team defender and rebounder.
I do think a team can win a Championship with Monroe. A different type of center than Noel but one who can be a good defender & rebounder with hard work + a good individual scorer and team offensive player. An all-rounder.
I would say Andrew Bogut as a younger player in Milwaukee was more along these lines (more similar to Greg Monroe than a Tyson Chandler). A different athlete. Slower and less mobile than Monroe but bigger and more intimidating around the basket. A player who was more of an all-rounder in terms of his skill-set (similar to Monroe). A plus defender, rebounder and offensive player. Andrew Bogut (like Monroe) also had the qualities of a Championship winning center albeit a different type of Championship winning center than Nerlens Noel.
Unfortunately, injuries zapped Bogut's offensive game. Made him more of a defense-only player than the all-rounder he was earlier in his career.