New Orleans Pelicans: How will Jahlil Okafor fit in next year?

How he fits

Despite his offensive production, Okafor’s biggest weakness continues to be his inability to defend the post. He generated a defensive rating of 116.6 last season despite appearing in just 28 games. His offensive rating of 92.3 doesn’t exactly help his case either. For those keeping track at home, Okafor generated a net rating of -24.3 in just 12.6 minutes of action in 2017-18.

At best, Okafor may just be a solid practice player or situational guy based on these numbers. If he hopes to have a bigger role than that, he’ll need to show he can do more than score the basketball. It helps that he’ll have Anthony Davis pushing him in practice in that regard. It will be a work in progress, but it wasn’t long ago Okafor was playing at a high level.

He’ll need to show the coaching staff of the New Orleans Pelicans that he can play both the power forward and center position to get a leg up on the guys around him on the roster.