It cracks me up that some think Avery is the deal breaker on landing one of the best big man prospects in the last 5 years who is 20 years old.
What other big guy do you want? Can't get Okafor for nothing, just the fact we actually have a shot at him is because of Ainges genius.
My problem with this is that you guys are all looking at Okafor as a prospect (what you HOPE he could become) rather than as a player (who he is, and who we know he can become).
I look at Okafor right now and he has a LOT of holes/weaknesses in his game. Yes I know he's only 20 years old, but if you look at all the big men in this league who have become great players, they ALL were really good at 2 or 3 differnt things when they came into the league.
Even Deandre Jordan was ALWAYS a crazy athlete, an great rebounder, a great shotblocker.
Monroe was always a good post scorer, great passer, great rebounder.
Anthony Davis was always an elite defender, versatile scorer, great ball handler, super athletic, great rebounder.
Andre Drummond was always an elite rebounder, great post defender, fairly athletic and mobile, a best in the paint.
Players come into the league and improve on their weaknesses, but when you have a guy who is BAD in so many areas, those guys don't usually become great players. It's just rare to see somebody who is mediocre at almost everything, make enough dramatic strides in his game across so many areas.
Okafor really is mediocre at almost everything, with his only great skill being his post scoring. The way I see it that puts him on a career trajectory to become a poor man's Al Jefferson at best...and there are a lot of big man in the NBA right now who I would take over Al jefferson, even in his prime.
When I see a guy like Smart, I can envision him becoming a great player, because he is solid (if not great) at a lot of things. Three point shooting is really the only obvious major hole in his game, everything else he is decent at,and just needs to improve slightly. Defense he's already elite at. Add to this the fact that Smart has an elite work ethic and an obvious desire to be great, and that work ethic combined with the base skill set convinces me that he has a chance to be a special player.
Okafor is great at one thing, medicore at a few other things, horrendously bad at a few other things, and has what appears to be terrible attitude and work ethic...and leaves me incredibly concerned about whether he'll ever make the developmental strides people like to think he will. I could see him being another Sullinger - guy who has the talent to be really good, but who lacks the motivation to ever make it happen.
i also am concerned by how much his stats are "inflated" by the fact that he's playing on such an incredibly bad team. I've seen countless scenarios over the past 2-3 years where that Sixers team has called up D-league players, thrown them straight into major roles, and though D-league guys have almost instantly looked like one of the better players on the team. I feel like Rozier, Hunter and Mickey would look All-Rookie Team guys if they were in Philly right now.
So how much can you trust the numbers Okafor is putting up there?
i honestly believe that "attitude" is one of the areas that people grossly undervalue when making calls on a player's upside.
You simply cannot underestimate the value of a guy who has toughness, a winning mentality, a great motor/work ethic, and a true desire to be great. Those attributes all equate to motivation, which is one of the absolute key factors in player development - if you don't have a desire to be great, you'll probably never be great.
I think the perfect example of that is comparing Jared Sullinger to Jae Crowder. Everybody on this board knows how much talent and potential that guy had when he came into the league. Everybody expected him to go top 5 or top 6 if he didn't get dragged down with health red flags.
Yet if you look at Sullinger now, you could quite fairly argue that he has actually declined as an all round player since his Rookie year. I feel like that's all a result of lack of motivation and lack of generally giving a [dang]. I feel like he enjoys basketball, but wants to play it like it's a pick up game, and just go out and have some fun. He doesn't have that mentality of wanting to make basketball his life a dedicate everything to the game.
That's a personal choice and he has the right to that, but he's never going to become a great player with that attitude when there are other guys out there who are willing to work 5x as hard.
Jae Crowder was completely under-appreciated everywhere. He looked like he has the bare minimum of talent, and nobody expected a thing when he came here in the trade. Felt like a little throw in just for the sake of getting something. But look at the player he has developed into. All of that has come not because of his raw talent, but because of his unlimited motivation and his willingness to take his work ethic and devotion to a whole other level.
Now sometimes you can get guys who are just SO [dang] talented that they could put in 80% effort and probably still be all-star. I'm talking about guys like Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbook, etc. Those guys liike like future all-time greats, but if they worked only 80% as hard as they do, they'd probably still be All-Stars on talent alone.
Thing with Okafor is that I see him having a "Sully-like" personality, but I don't see him having anything hear that "ADavis / KDurant" talent - the type of talent that would allow him to cruise and still become a star.
I think Okafor undoubtedly has the talent to be a star IF he puts in some serious work, but I just don't see Okafor as the kind of guy who has the type of work ethic.
If Okafor ever becomes better than Al Jefferson was in his absolute prime (or better than Brook Lopez is now) then I will be honestly quite surprised. I just don't see him having enough combined talent/motivation to exceed that level.
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Topic: Yes or No Bradley + Nets pick for Okafor (Read 10942 times)