Tag: Jahlil Okafor

Former Duke star reveals prior allegiance to UNC

Former Duke star Jahlil Okafor was a UNC basketball fan at one point.

The UNC-Duke rivalry runs deep and players carry that into their life post-athletics. But before the athletes decide on their school, they had allegiances to their favorite teams.

And sometimes, those players were a fan of a rival.

The latest case of this comes with former Duke star Jahlil Okafor, who played one season with the Blue Devils helping them win a national championship. It’s the last title Duke has won as the class featuring Okafor, Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow, and Grayson Allen delivered a title in 2015.

Okafor was a five-star recruit out of Chicago who picked the Blue Devils in June of 2014. He had 18 total offers and visited Duke, Kansas, Arizona, Kentucky and Baylor. While UNC did offer, the recruitment never progressed to where they were a serious contender. But Okafor did consider the Tar Heels at one point.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes. I loved Carolina, actually,” Okafor said to former UNC forward Theo Pinson on the ‘Run Your Race’ podcast. “Honestly, when I first found out about the rivalry, when I was watching documentaries as a shorty, Carolina was the side that I felt like I was a part of. Young and dumb. Young and dumb.”

Pinson went on to say something that he’s said before, that he grew up a Duke fan. So it happens.

Okafor dominated while at Duke and went on to be the No. 3 overall pick in the NBA draft, going to Philadelphia.

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NBA draft rewind: Sixers select Jahlil Okafor with No. 3 pick in 2015

The Philadelphia 76ers selected Jahlil Okafor with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.

With the 2024 NBA draft approaching quickly–Round 1 of the draft is set for June 26–now is the time to look back at some of the previous draft picks the Philadelphia 76ers have made in recent years.

Entering the 2015 draft, the Sixers were still looking for that star player to help push them forward. They had selected Joel Embiid in the 2014 draft, but he missed the entire season due to a foot injury and there were concerns at the time about his playing status.

With the No. 3 pick in 2015, the Sixers selected Duke big man Jahlil Okafor. In his rookie season, Okafor was solid as he averaged 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks. He was one of the few bright spots with Philadelphia finishing 10-72 that season.

Embiid made his debut in the 2016-17 season and Okafor’s role diminished with the emergence of the big fella. Okafor averaged 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in his second season before he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets early in the 2017-18 season.

After finishing that season with the Nets, Okafor joined the New Orleans Pelicans and the Detroit Pistons in the 2020-21 season. He is now in the G League playing for the Valley Suns as he looks to work his way back into the league.

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Former Sixers lottery pick Jahlil Okafor selected in G League draft

Former Philadelphia 76ers lottery pick Jahlil Okafor has been selected by the Valley Suns in the G League expansion draft.

The Philadelphia 76ers selected Duke big man Jahlil Okafor with the No. 3 pick in the 2015 draft following a highly productive freshman season with the Blue Devils. When considering the uncertainty around Joel Embiid at the time due to his injuries, the Okafor selection made some sense.

Okafor had a solid rookie season as he averaged 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks while finishing fifth in Rookie of the Year voting. However, once Embiid got onto the floor in the 2016-17 season, that ended everything for Okafor as the Sixers then sent him to the Brooklyn Nets early in the 2017-18 season.

After some time with the Nets, the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Detroit Pistons, Okafor is working to get back into the league. He was selected by the Valley Suns in the G League expansion draft.

Overall, Okafor is still a solid player. He dealt with some unfortunate injuries, but when healthy and in the right setting, he can still give a team some offense off the bench at the very least.

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2015 NBA redraft has Sixers selecting Kristaps Porzingis over Jahlil Okafor

A redraft of 2015 has the Philadelphia 76ers selecting Kristaps Porzingis at No. 3 overall rather than Jahlil Okafor.

The Philadelphia 76ers entered the 2015 NBA draft with the No. 3 pick following a tough season. The Sixers were in the midst of still trying to go through their rebuild and find the right piece to build around going forward.

With the third pick in 2015, the Sixers turned to Duke star Jahlil Okafor. The young big man produced big numbers as a rookie averaging 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds, but Philadelphia went 10-72 during his maiden season in the league.

HoopsHype put together a redraft of 2015 and have the Sixers taking Kristaps Porzingis rather than Okafor:

The unicorn Kristaps Porzingis looked well on his way to being a superstar early on in his career as a member of the Knicks, but injuries caused him to fail to live up to that massive potential. That might be a little unfair, however, as he’s still clearly one of the best players from his draft class, an outside big man who shoots three from quite deep, can face-up and score from the midrange and block loads of shots on the other end.

The Porzingis pick would have been an interesting one. His ability to shoot the 3-ball while also being able to put the ball on the floor and create plays would have been a tantalizing option next to Joel Embiid once the big fella got healthy (Embiid, picked in 2014, missed the first two seasons of his career due to injuries).

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Complete list of backup centers Sixers have employed behind Joel Embiid

Here is a complete list of the backup centers the Philadelphia 76ers have employed behind star big man Joel Embiid.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the top teams in the East since Joel Embiid stepped onto the floor for them in the 2016-17 season. The big fella has been the transcendent star the franchise needed to regain relevancy in the league.

The backup center spot has been a bit of an adventure for the franchise. They have cycled through a lot of different options behind Embiid looking for the right combination on the floor. Some have been duds and others have been solid players.

In Embiid’s seven seasons with the Sixers, Philadelphia has employed a number of backup centers, and it appears as though there will be a new backup in the 2023-24 season, veteran Mo Bamba. It was Paul Reed in 2022-23, but it appears he could get a look at power forward under new coach Nick Nurse.

Here are all the backup centers during the Embiid era:

Celtics camp invitee Bruno Caboclo on Boston’s offseason, plans for 2022-23

The Brazilian big man revealed a certain former No. 3 pick was an unreported early participant in the Celtics’ training camp. as well

Many fans of the Boston Celtics were excited by the news of Brazilian forward Bruno Caboclo joining the team in the offseason on a training camp deal, hopeful the Osasco native might make the team as a potential depth option. Ultimately, the team would go in a different direction to solidify their roster for the 2022-23 NBA season, but it might not be the last time you hear Caboclo’s name connected to the Celtics.

Currently playing for the G League’s Mexico City Capitanes, the 6-foot-9 combo forward hopes to leverage a resurgent interest in big men in the league and his positional flexibility to find his way back to the NBA, whether with Boston or some other ball club.

Ahead of his season opener on Nov. 6 with the Capitanes, the Celtics Wire caught up with Caboclo to talk about his time in Boston, what brought him to Mexico, and more.

Former 76ers No. 3 pick Jahlil Okafor opens up about Colangelo scandal, bid to return to NBA

Playing for the G League’s Mexico City Capitanes, Okafor reflected on his time in Philly.

The evolution of the game away from bigs who feasted in the paint and toward small ball taking off at almost exactly the moment former Philadelphia 76ers No. 3 pick Jahlil Okafor came into the league did the Duke alumnus no favors.

But it probably did not help Okafor’s career that his team’s general manager at the time, Bryan Colangelo, found himself embroiled in scandal once it was revealed Colangelo had been using a secret Twitter account to attack him, fellow Sixers big man Joel Embiid, and the prior Philadelphia GM Sam Hinkie, either. After the scandal fallout created an untenable situation, the 76ers dealt him to the Brooklyn Nets.

While it might not have seemed like it at the time, it helped set in motion the path that ultimately saw Okafor’s opportunities diminish as the league’s style of play underwent a tectonic shift.

Former 76ers top pick Jahlil Okafor talks on his friendship with Jayson Tatum, efforts to return to the NBA

Could the former Sixers center be a potential option for Boston if their current depth bigs don’t work out?

“This is a part of Mexico that I’d never even imagined,” said the former No. 3 pick of the 2015 NBA draft as we sat on the sidelines of an Olympic training gymnasium just outside of the upscale Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City. The Celtics Wire made the trip to see the Mexican metropolis’ G League team practice as a member of the Capitanes, the NBA’s only development league affiliate based outside the US or Canada.

The event was a first for the organization since relocating back to the country it calls home, having played the season prior — its first in the G League — in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. Speaking with us was said 2015 No. 3 pick Jahlil Okafor, who had signed with the team for their 2022-23 campaign with the hopes of finding his way back to the NBA.

“The one obvious goal is to make it back to the NBA,” explained Okafor. “But while I’m here, I’m trying to get better each and every day.”

A list of the backup centers Sixers have employed behind Joel Embiid

Here is a list of the backup centers the Philadelphia 76ers have employed during the Joel Embiid era.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the top teams in the East since Joel Embiid stepped onto the floor for them in the 2016-17 season. The big fella has been the transcendent star the franchise needed to regain relevancy in the league.

The biggest issue has been the backup center spot. The Sixers have not settled on one guy who can give positive, productive minutes behind Embiid so the big fella can rest.

In Embiid’s six seasons with the Sixers, Philadelphia has employed a number of backup centers, and it appears as though there will be a new backup in the 2022-23 season, young Paul Reed.

Here are all the backup centers during the Embiid era.

Former Sixers big man Jahlil Okafor expected to sign with team in China

Former Philadelphia 76ers big man Jahlil Okafor is expected to go overseas and sign in China.

The Philadelphia 76ers selected big man Jahlil Okafor with the No. 3 pick of the 2015 NBA draft and he had himself a really solid rookie season. Despite the Sixers having a miserable season at 10-72, Okafor averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds with 1.2 assists as a rookie.

However, once Joel Embiid was ready to play and he made such a huge impact right away, the Sixers moved on from Okafor rather quickly as they sent him to the Brooklyn Nets in a deal early in the 2017-18 season.

After bouncing around a bit with the New Orleans Pelicans and, most recently, with the Detroit Pistons, it sounds like Okafor is headed overseas. Per Sportando, Okafor is expected to sign a deal with Chinese team Guangsha and try to move his career forward again.

Okafor can still be a valuable backup in the NBA as he still has some good skill on the offensive end. It will be interesting to see if he can play well enough in China to earn a spot again in the league.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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