Minnesota Sports Forum

Here's an analysis of Okongwu from The Draft Room:

Onyeka Okongwu is a lock to go in the top half of the lottery and will even be in consideration for no.1 overall. He's in the top tier of our 2020 draft rankings, right up there with Anthony Edwards and James Wiseman.

In his one season at USC Okongwu was an overpowering force, using his quick-twitch power to blow by and go through defenders and explode to the rim. He's built in the mold of Bam Adebayo and also reminds of Tristan Thompson (who I was really high on coming out of Texas) but with a more advanced offensive game than Tristan ever had.

There are a lot of good fits/potential landing spots for Onyeka in this draft with my favorite being Minnesota, where he could help hold down the middle and free up KAT to play his more perimeter oriented game. Not to mention, be insurance in case KAT walks out of town in a few years.

Strengths

A big, strong and athletic player who can really bang in the paint and hold his ground

An excellent shot blocker with good instincts and intelligent defensive play - knows how to avoid fouls and how to keep the ball in play when he blocks a shot

Does a good job of reading the flight of the ball and battling for rebounds on both ends

Has decent shooting form and has shown steady improvement - projects as a solid mid range shooter who could develop 3 point range

Has good hands and catches the ball well

Runs the floor well and is an above average open court athlete

Attacks the rim with aggression and great power, using his elite physical tools to blow by defenders and elevate and finish

Knows his role and doesn't try to do too much - isn't afraid to do the dirty work
Is still growing and projects to have NBA center size

Weaknesses

Onyeka doesn't have a glaring weakness. He's not a good 3pt shooter but he's not expected to be...
He can be a bit rushed on offense and needs to let the game slow down.

I've kind of blocked this from my memory but did Ogre really take Kris Dunn over Jamal Murray?

This is one of those drafts where I like almost no one at 1, 2, or 3 (from a salary/market value perspective), but then wouldn't mind adding like three or four guys that might be available between 4 and 12!

Need an NBA ready defensive big? Check - Okongwu
Need an NBA ready 3&D wing? Check - Vassell
Need an NBA ready shooter? Check - Nesmith
Need a rangy NBA ready backup PG with some upside? Check - Halliburton

All of that being said, if we don't trade out of the pick, I think we have to go with Wiseman. I know it's only three games, but he absolutely dominated in the minutes he played. He had something like a 52 PER, Lol.

WolvesFan21 wrote:I've kind of blocked this from my memory but did Ogre really take Kris Dunn over Jamal Murray?

To my chagrin

Q12543 wrote:This is one of those drafts where I like almost no one at 1, 2, or 3 (from a salary/market value perspective), but then wouldn't mind adding like three or four guys that might be available between 4 and 12!

Need an NBA ready defensive big? Check - Okongwu
Need an NBA ready 3&D wing? Check - Vassell
Need an NBA ready shooter? Check - Nesmith
Need a rangy NBA ready backup PG with some upside? Check - Halliburton

All of that being said, if we don't trade out of the pick, I think we have to go with Wiseman. I know it's only three games, but he absolutely dominated in the minutes he played. He had something like a 52 PER, Lol.

3 picks in this draft and if they're all used, have to go towards guys with some sort of usable elite skill.

Video on Edwards. Interesting player. I am not sure how he fits with DLO and KAT. Can he play off the ball? PNR game needs some major work. Seems like kind of a blackhole with the ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l46pqSeeA34

I decided to post this question in this draft thread even though other threads are where the question kinda came to mind. After watching video of both Wiseman and Okongwu then comparing their stats from the first 3 games of the season...what separates these guys as prospects? We don't have measurements for these guys so I'm looking for other attributes.

The main thing that's different statistically in those 3 games was basically Wiseman getting to the line a ton. Okongwu shot 5.1 FTS per game for the season which is a pretty solid rate for a freshman big.

monsterpile wrote:I decided to post this question in this draft thread even though other threads are where the question kinda came to mind. After watching video of both Wiseman and Okongwu then comparing their stats from the first 3 games of the season...what separates these guys as prospects? We don't have measurements for these guys so I'm looking for other attributes.

The main thing that's different statistically in those 3 games was basically Wiseman getting to the line a ton. Okongwu shot 5.1 FTS per game for the season which is a pretty solid rate for a freshman big.

That's right, Monster. Free throw attempts seems to be the stat that separates the two. I believe Wiseman's rebounding stats were also significantly better than Okongwu's. Unfortunately, we only have 3 college games to rely on in assessing Wiseman. And we have draft reviews referring to Wiseman's on-and-off motor high school. I read one review questioning his love for the game. I wonder if a player who truly loves the game would have ended his college season the way Wiseman did. Don't get me wrong, I thought what the NCAA did was ridiculous and I don't blame Wiseman for being pissed. And I wouldn't question his decision if not for preexisting reports questioning Wiseman's motor and passion for the game. Getting back to free throw attempts, I believe Okongwu's stats in that area align with Bam's freshman stats at Kentucky.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I decided to post this question in this draft thread even though other threads are where the question kinda came to mind. After watching video of both Wiseman and Okongwu then comparing their stats from the first 3 games of the season...what separates these guys as prospects? We don't have measurements for these guys so I'm looking for other attributes.

The main thing that's different statistically in those 3 games was basically Wiseman getting to the line a ton. Okongwu shot 5.1 FTS per game for the season which is a pretty solid rate for a freshman big.

That's right, Monster. Free throw attempts seems to be the stat that separates the two. I believe Wiseman's rebounding stats were also significantly better than Okongwu's. Unfortunately, we only have 3 college games to rely on in assessing Wiseman. And we have draft reviews referring to Wiseman's on-and-off motor high school. I read one review questioning his love for the game. I wonder if a player who truly loves the game would have ended his college season the way Wiseman did. Don't get me wrong, I thought what the NCAA did was ridiculous and I don't blame Wiseman for being pissed. And I wouldn't question his decision if not for preexisting reports questioning Wiseman's motor and passion for the game. Getting back to free throw attempts, I believe Okongwu's stats in that area align with Bam's freshman stats at Kentucky.

I did a spreadsheet and I think I got all the formulas correct to compare their numbers per 36 for those 3 games...just for fun. ;) Hopefully this format is decent. enough to at least follow.

Wiseman
FGA 13.62 FG 76.9% FTA 14.09 FT 70.4% OREB 6.73 RB 16.75 STL 0.47 BLK 4.7 TO 1.57 PF 2.66 PTS 30.83

Okongwu
FGA 16.54 FG 65.0% FTA 3.41 FT 81.0% OREB 7.30 RB 15.08 STL 2.43 BLK 4.9 TO 3.41 PF 2.92 PTS 25.30

This has to be one of the flattest drafts in NBA history, if not the flattest. Take the top 10-12 players and put them in a hat and it would be nearly impossible to order those players by how good their careers will be. Unless one of these guys creates some major separation in draft workouts, I'm a big proponent in trying to trade down. I'd like to somehow end up with two picks in the top 12, but it would take a three way trade to accomplish that. The next best thing would be to trade down to a team in the top 8 and add their 2021 pick with very little protection and focus on teams that should be real bad next year like Knicks, Cavs, Kings, Washington, Charlotte.