Should we kick the tires on Jahlil Okafor?

[capstone21]

He had the entitled attitude.  He thought he was going to come in and dominate and didn't really work on his game.  He has a bad attitude and bad habits.  He has definitely been humbled but prob the best thing would be for him to go to Europe / China and come back in a couple years.

[AHF]

5 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I don't think that's right.  First year Pitino gave up on him.   His second year, which was in denver, he started 41 of 45 games in a strike shortened season. Posted 14/4 shot 36% from 3.   Next season (3rd) he played 13 because he was injured.  4th season signed with Minny and pretty much broke out over the course of 2 years and then landed a 6 year deal with Detroit.   

How was he a free agent in his 4th season?

[JayBirdHawk]

10 minutes ago, AHF said:

How was he a free agent in his 4th season?

He ended up with the Magic for a year but was injured, my guess is they declined his option and signed with Minny.

[AHF]

5 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

He ended up with the Magic for a year but was injured, my guess is they declined his option and signed with Minny.

Bingo

Although, Magic?  Are we talking Denver?

[macdaddy]

19 minutes ago, AHF said:

Bingo

Although, Magic?  Are we talking Denver?

Denver traded him to the Magic when he was hurt but he never played for them because of injury.

[AHF]

Just now, macdaddy said:

Denver traded him to the Magic when he was hurt but he never played for them because of injury.

Good catch.  Denver had already declined the option by the time of the trade, right?

[macdaddy]

But I still don't think this is that similar to Okafor's situation.   Billups started 90% of the games he played in his first 2 seasons and played decently and consistently.  Averaged double digit scoring.   He was just disappointing and also in some tough situations.  

Quote

Billups appears in the Magic's 1999-2000 team photo, but he never played one second.

At the time, Billups was nursing a serious shoulder injury and had been considered a bust after the Boston Celtics — who drafted him with the No. 3 pick in 1997 — dealt him to Toronto. He was a long way off yet in becoming "Mr. Big Shot."

Orlando was rebuilding in the post- Shaq era and only obtained Billups from the Nuggets to use his expiring contract to clear cap room and sign marquee free agents.

"It's not unusual to renounce good players to go after great players," said Gabriel, now a scout with the New York Knicks. "The cards were stacked against Chauncey here."

The Magic acquired Billups on Feb. 1, 2000 from Denver, along with guard Ron Mercer and forward Johnny Taylor. They renounced his rights six months later so they could sign McGrady and Hill, a star-crossed game-plan.

The Pistons eventually signed Billups and the rest is history … and misery for the Magic.

 

[thecampster]

24 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

But I still don't think this is that similar to Okafor's situation.   Billups started 90% of the games he played in his first 2 seasons and played decently and consistently.  Averaged double digit scoring.   He was just disappointing and also in some tough situations.  

 

Occasionally you guys really surprise me with your NBA knowledge and history. I didn't realize most of this about Billups and learned something.

[AHF]

29 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

But I still don't think this is that similar to Okafor's situation.   Billups started 90% of the games he played in his first 2 seasons and played decently and consistently.  Averaged double digit scoring.   He was just disappointing and also in some tough situations.  

 

It isn't identical but he was a young high pick that teams didn't believe in and he ultimately got cut, signed as a free agent for less than he made as a rookie and then came back strong to become a star.  There is some similarity in that arc even though Okafor has dipped lower than Billups did.  Both struggled hard and were largely disregarded.  He was inefficient scoring the ball and turnover prone compared to what he would become not to mention that it took him a while to learn how to run an offense (which is why he played so much SG in Denver).  

If he had played decently, 3 teams wouldn't have given up on him for so little in return.

[macdaddy]

2 minutes ago, AHF said:

It isn't identical but he was a young high pick that teams didn't believe in and he ultimately got cut, signed as a free agent for less than he made as a rookie and then came back strong to become a star.  There is some similarity in that arc even though Okafor has dipped lower than Billups did.  Both struggled hard and were largely disregarded.  He was inefficient scoring the ball and turnover prone compared to what he would become not to mention that it took him a while to learn how to run an offense (which is why he played so much SG in Denver).  

If he had played decently, 3 teams wouldn't have given up on him for so little in return.

I agree with that mostly.  I think Chauncey had some extenuating circumstances.  Pitino is a douche, Toronto was horrible and flipped him for the #5 pick, and then Denver and Orlando gave up because he had a pretty serious injury.   Once he got to a stable team in Minny with Flip Saunders and some vets he started playing well.  

Obviously you could say Okafor hasn't been in a stable situation either but i guess i'm not a believer in his skill set being that valuable even if there weren't concerns about his attitude and physical shape.  

(also i had to look up most of this info)

[AHF]

12 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I agree with that mostly.  I think Chauncey had some extenuating circumstances.  Pitino is a douche, Toronto was horrible and flipped him for the #5 pick, and then Denver and Orlando gave up because he had a pretty serious injury.   Once he got to a stable team in Minny with Flip Saunders and some vets he started playing well.  

Obviously you could say Okafor hasn't been in a stable situation either but i guess i'm not a believer in his skill set being that valuable even if there weren't concerns about his attitude and physical shape.  

(also i had to look up most of this info)

It's kind of funny that he and Ron Mercer both got drafted together by the Celtics then both got traded together by the Raptors.  They went from the #3 and #6 pick in the draft to getting dealt for Chris Gatling, Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Omar Cook.  Ugly.

[JayBirdHawk]

47 minutes ago, thecampster said:

Occasionally you guys really surprise me with your NBA knowledge and history. I didn't realize most of this about Billups and learned something.

Google is a very close friend to me .

My brain can't store this much junk. Lol

[JayBirdHawk]

16 minutes ago, AHF said:

It's kind of funny that he and Ron Mercer both got drafted together by the Celtics then both got traded together by the Raptors.  They went from the #3 and #6 pick in the draft to getting dealt for Chris Gatling, Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Omar Cook.  Ugly.

P- ew