Durant would make this a top 5 offense. Blake Griffin might be able to make it a top 5 offense. Cousins could if he played motivated. James Harden maybe.
But that's the caliber of offensive player you'd need to turn this team into a top 5 offense right away. Okafor is not that type of offensive player.
exactly. Okafor is a good offensive player and would certainly improve the offense, but no where near enough to make this team a top 5 offense overall.
Wrong. People he was 20 years old last year! He is absolutely 100℅ on pace to be better than Cousin's. I would much rather have him than Cousin's especially for the asking price.
That's crazy talk. Boogie is a top 15 player in the league while playing for the absolute worst franchise in the sport. Cousins does EVERYTHING better than Okafor (outside of maybe ISO post ups) and to compare the two is laughable. When engaged, Cousins is a legit two way player who's an absolute force on the court. If he's lucky, Okafor becomes a new age Al Jefferson. There will never come a day where Okafor is as impactful as Cousins is on the court. His defense, rebounding, versatility and shooting will never improve THAT dramatically. I'd rather give up Brown and another Brooklyn pick for Boogie than give up Smart, KO and whatever else for Okafor. If it all pans out, Boogie can be that transformational superstar that pushes you to contention. Okafor will never be that. Just not talented enough.
As to the original question, no. Okafor would not make this team a top 5 offense. And if he was on this team, the only possible way to play him is off the bench in a 6th man kinda role, where his horrible defense can be less evident and his offensive skills can actually be utilized. The problem with Okafor right now (besides the defense), is that in order to put him on the floor, your whole offense needs to be centered around utilizing his low post skills. Otherwise, he's a total black hole out there. Problem is, if you did that with this suggested line-up, your taking the ball out of IT's hands WAY too much, your taking too many possessions away from a Horford/Thomas P&R, and your giving a lot leas shots to the Bradley, Crowder's and Olynyk's of the world, all of which would result in a net negative to the offense. When you add in the fact that he can't guard basically any "stretch" bigs, or switch on defense AT ALL, or protect the rim, it becomes clear he's just not playable in the starting line up.
I get that Okafor has a really pretty post game. I get that he can get buckets when it seems like a lost possession. I get that he's a lot of people's binkie. But mark my words, Ainge wouldn't trade much of substance for him. As a said before the draft, there's no way he moves a top 5 pick for him, or even a guy like Smart and other stuff. He's just not good enough, and he never will be. Very limited ceiling. If all goes well, he'll have a nice long career like Big Al did. Pretty good player, but not one you trade a lot of assets for or build your offense around. And with Okafor, just like with Al, if you don't build your offense around him, he's going to hurt more than he helps.
We should probable let it go, cause Okafor isn't coming here any time soon.
Your argument is garbage my good man.
He plays on a bad team, check Philly last year.
The only thing Cousin's did better as a rookie than Okafor was Rebound better and had more assists. They are both garbage defensively, and Okafor had more blocks per game 1.2 to .8
Okafor scored more than Cousin's at 17.1 for Okafor, Cousin's 14.1 ppg, and he was much more efficient from the field, a pathetic .430% for Cousin's to a .508% for Okafor.
Cousin's didn't explode until ages 23 to 26.
Okafor was better as a rookie. Cousin's fg% was atrocious for a 6'11" big man.
All that doesn't matter. Rookie seasons, and the raw counting stats they create, are so dependent on personal situation and the context of where that season occurred. For example:
Player 1: 16.7 PPG, 6.3 APG, 6.2 RPG, 1.9 SPG, 41% FG, 32 MPG
Player 2: 6.4 PPG, 3.8 APG, 3.6 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 42% FG, 24 MPG
Player one is MCW, player 2 is Rajon Rondo. Imperfect comparison, sure, but you really can't compare raw counting stats in a guy's rookie year and say "Look! Okafor had better numbers as a rookie, he's gonna be better than Boogie!"
At the end of the day, Boogie is just a much better all around player than Okafor, and he possessed the same skills that make him so good as a rookie, he just couldn't use them as well as he does now. Okafor's problem is that he needs to develop skills he just doesn't have. He's never gonna become a rim protector, he's never gonna be able to switch out on the perimeter, he very likely won't develop a legitimate deep shot, and he doesn't have the needed skill set to become the kind of offensively versatile, dynamic scorer that Boogie is. Nor does he have the skill set to become the plus defender Boogie is when he's engaged.
I would probably bet 100 TP's that Okafor never reaches the top 15/20 player, All-NBA, Multiple time ASG's heights that Boogie has already reached. He would need to develop skills he just doesn't have, where Boogie had those skills, they just needed development.