National Basketball Association

Should the Brooklyn Nets Trade For Jahlil Okafor?

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:54 a.m. ET

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Oct 18, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) drives the ball to the basket against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

The Brooklyn Nets are undergoing a massive rebuild as the 2016-17 season approaches. Should they target Philadelphia 76ers big man Jahlil Okafor?

A major part of any rebuild is collecting prospects. Since Sean Marks took over in February, the Brooklyn Nets have seen an influx of youth brought in.

The key for this year’s team is to develop pieces like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Chris McCullough, Caris LeVert, Isaiah Whitehead, Yogi Ferrell, and Justin Hamilton to see what types of players they can become.

Another part of rebuilding is finding talent elsewhere that either isn’t being utilized correctly on another team or getting a disgruntled player out of a bad situation. When a player that fits this second category, is found it is often done via trade.

One such player is Philadelphia 76ers big man, Jahlil Okafor.

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Ever since Okafor was drafted last year by the Sixers, questions about how he would fit in Philly immediately surfaced.

This isn’t to say that Okafor is a bad person (though he did go on to have some off the court dust ups), but he was joining a team that had already invested lottery picks in fellow bigs Nerlens Noel (2013) and Joel Embiid (2014) the previous two years.

Things never fully clicked with the Sixers and Okafor during his rookie year. The roster didn’t feature many players that would help support Okafor’s style of play and wasn’t very talented either. Despite this, Okafor still managed to average 17.5 points and seven rebounds per game in 30 minutes nightly over the course of 53 games.

There is obvious talent there, but unless Philadelphia is willing to build their team around Okafor, it is more likely to be wasted.

Feb 6, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) dribbles the ball during the first quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

How Will Okafor Fit in Brooklyn?

As mentioned previously, Brooklyn has begun to collect prospects. None of those currently on the roster can hold a candle to Okafor talent-wise. If brought to Brooklyn, Okafor would immediately contend with Brook Lopez for the title of best player on the Nets.

However, it would be wise for the Nets to trade for Okafor. While his talent is tantalizing, the Nets, under Mikhail Prokhorov, haven’t shown much restraint and patience in their team building. They constantly jumped for the biggest names (Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett) and jeopardized their future.

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Bringing in Okafor would be a similar move. Though Okafor is only 20 years old and has plenty of time to develop into something better than what he already is, the Nets would be ditching their rebuild before even starting it.

To pry Okafor from Philly, some combination of LeVert, McCullough, Sean Kilpatrick, Bojan Bogdanovic, and future draft picks would be necessary. At the moment, those pieces are too vital to the Nets in both the present and future to ship away without getting a player that guarantees the franchise takes a turn for the better.

For all his talent and production as a rookie, Okafor is not that player.

Firstly, he is a horrid defender–like James Harden level bad–and he has no untapped athleticism or length that makes you think he could eventually become a top rim protector. Okafor isn’t able to guard stretch big men either. He’s slow and often looks like he’s running with cement blocks on his feet.

Secondly (and maybe this has to do with how Philadelphia was being run under Sam Hinkie), he became a player that was stat chasing and often looking to do his own thing on the floor instead of working within an offense. The player we saw at Duke who helped lead the Blue Devils to a National Championship disappeared in Philly, except for the occasional highlight.

Okafor will eventually find his way out of Philadelphia (sooner rather than later too). But he is not a good fit for the Nets at this juncture.

Brooklyn needs to do all it can to add talent to this roster. However, the risk would be greater than the reward with Okafor.

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