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Brooklyn Nets: Jahlil Okafor a free-agent conundrum

By Phil Watson

BROOKLYN, NY - FEBRUARY 2: Jahlil Okafor #4 of the Brooklyn Nets shoots a free throw against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 2, 2018 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
BROOKLYN, NY - FEBRUARY 2: Jahlil Okafor #4 of the Brooklyn Nets shoots a free throw against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 2, 2018 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Brooklyn Nets center Jahlil Okafor is set to become an unrestricted free agent and the future is murky for the former No. 3 overall pick.

Few high lottery picks have fallen as far as fast as has Jahlil Okafor, set to become an unrestricted free agent after finishing the 2017-18 season with the Brooklyn Nets.

Okafor, a first-team All-America selection as a freshman at Duke, had it all when he declared for the NBA Draft in 2015. He had led his team to a national championship. He was big, strong, a classic 5 who was almost certain to be an anchor for some lucky franchise.

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The Philadelphia 76ers took Jah with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and the early returns were solid.

There were some off-the-court hiccups. Okafor was suspended by the 76ers for two games in December 2015 after being involved in two nightclub altercations and being cited for speeding

But until going down with a torn right meniscus in late February 2016, Okafor was one of the better rookies in the NBA, averaging 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in 30.0 minutes per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor.

The road to stardom got washed out for Okafor from that point. A finally healthy Joel Embiid cut into his minutes with the 76ers, who spent much of 2016-17 trying to figure out how to fit Embiid, Okafor and another young big, Nerlens Noel, into a rotation.

Okafor experienced soreness in the repaired right knee in January 2017 and the team eventually shut him down in late March.

In 50 games, his playing time dropped to 22.7 minutes a night and his production went with it, averaging just 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds a game.

More significantly, his per 36-minutes numbers dropped as well, from 21.0 points and 8.4 boards to 18.7 and 7.6 respectively.

Embiid, meanwhile, had become a star despite being healthy for only 31 games in 2016-17 and Okafor entered last season with an uncertain role and an even more uncertain future.

The future got even more murky on Oct. 30, when the 76ers declined his fourth-year option, meaning Okafor would become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

He vented his dissatisfaction in an interview with SB Nation before the start of last season:

"Am I really part of this process? Am I really a part of this culture> That’s why the guys have been out there on social media, but I’ve just kind of been in the dark. I’ll go to a Sixers event, smile, take pictures with the kids and stuff like that, but I’m still thinking, ‘Am I a part of this team?’"

As it turns out, Okafor wasn’t part of that team for long. He played in just two of Philadelphia’s first 10 games, and then bounced back and forth between not being dressed or taking DNP-Coach’s Decisions for the next 13 games.

Finally on Dec. 7, Okafor was dealt to the Brooklyn Nets along with shooting guard Nik Stauskas and the New York Knicks’ 2018 second-round pick in exchange for big man Trevor Booker.

Okafor didn’t make his Nets debut until Dec. 15, blaming the 76ers in part for not helping him stay in game shape, according to the New York Post.

That was his last appearance until Jan. 3. Okafor then ran off a string of 21 consecutive appearances, coming off the bench to average 6.0 points and 2.9 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game on 55.1 percent shooting.

Hardly the stuff of a high lottery pick.

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    • From Feb. 14 on, Okafor played in just four more games and finished his stint with the Nets making just 26 appearances.

    For all the trials and travails in Okafor’s three-year career, this is still a player who won’t turn 23 until Dec. 15. There could still be a bright future there, somewhere.

    That said, this is also a player who rapidly became obsolete as the style of play in the NBA morphed toward favoring versatile bigs with the ability to stretch the floor.

    Okafor, to this point, has not shown that. Instead, he’s a classic back-to-the-basket big who takes the majority of his shots (74.9 percent in his career) from inside of 10 feet.

    Teams just are not clamoring for a wide-bodied center who will clog up space under the rim and offer little in the way of being able to pop out for mid-range shots and even less as a true floor spacer.

    Okafor is reasonably effect in getting you buckets in close — he shot 69.6 percent on his attempts at the rim in his brief stint with the Nets, and hit 54 percent from three to 10 feet.

    Given that he hasn’t shown himself to be a particularly adept rebounder despite his 6-foot-11, 275-pound frame and that he can struggle to keep himself between his man and the basket at the defensive end, it’s hard to see Okafor doing much better than a minimum deal in free agency.

    And that may be what he needs — a short-term deal on a prove-it contract to jump start his career and get it back on the rails. It’s just hard to see Brooklyn being a fit for that. With Jarrett Allen firmly in place, Brooklyn may shop for a cheap backup option at the 5, but nothing more.

    Next: Nets 15 best draft picks of all-time

    So it’s likely Jahlil Okafor’s career as a member of the Brooklyn Nets will be over not much long after it began.