2020 NBA Lottery Redraft, Pick No. 9: Onyeka Okongwu, USC
Among draft analysts it was a legitimate conversation between James Wiseman and Onyeka Okongwu as the best center in the 2020 NBA Draft. Mainstream analysts and those who frequently interview teams backed Wiseman, the analytic-based or less mainstream draftniks backing Okongwu.
Two months in, the jury is still out. Wiseman has shown flashes of being a generational talent at the center position, but he has also been a doe-eyed rookie. Okongwu looks like he belongs, and is a defensive difference-maker already. He has also played just six games; there are miles to go to determine if he will be even an average NBA center.
Team Fit: The Washington Wizards signed Robin Lopez this year to back up Thomas Bryant, an offense-first, second and always center who is now out for the year with an injury. In this redraft the Wizards may not have signed Lopez, instead filling a need with a defensive center who can grow with the youth movement this team needs to be on.
What’s Changed? The Wizards were linked to Okongwu throughout the draft process, but he originally went sixth overall to the Atlanta Hawks. In this redraft he falls to nine, giving the Wizards their center of the future. Their November pick, Deni Avdija, falls a little further down the board.