Philadelphia 76ers: Exit Interviews Reveal Potential Player Movement
By Simon Smith
Jahlil Okafor
The introduction of Joel Embiid made Jahlil Okafor somewhat superfluous this past season. In his 53 games, Okafor was a shell of the rookie who averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
But not only was Okafor’s production down due to playing time (30.0 minutes per down to 22.7), it was also his health. Okafor battled knee soreness throughout much of the season, and was finally shut down for the final 11 games of the season.
Coach Brown was very much looking forward to what the summer has to bring for Okafor.
"“The ability to expand his game is the exciting part for me….this summer we go overboard on his health….help him get a better understanding on how we wanna play. Our mission this summer is to get his body right. He recognises that this is a helluva an important summer…and if you want to point it to one thing, it’s health.”"
Brown’s comments were slightly in contrast to those offered up by Colangelo regarding Okafor’s future:
"“Jahlil Okafor finds himself where….there’s a pretty big road block ahead…we will continue to observe and monitor him and grow him…to get him where he needs to be. And if a deal comes along that makes sense for both of us then we’ll go ahead and make the deal. We’re not in a race to make any decision, we’re taking a very measured path towards success and building an organisation.”"
Still just 21, Okafor has an enormous upside and still plenty of time to live up the billing of being the third overall pick of the 2015 NBA draft. Having played just 103 out of 164 regular season games, the sky is the limit.