Scott Kushner of the Advocate reported earlier today that “multiple sources have said the Pelicans are in discussions with C Jahlil Okafor on a deal to bring him in for training camp.” The New Orleans Pelicans have actually crossed the path of discussions for Okafor before the trade deadline of the 2016-2017 NBA season. There was almost a trade between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Pelicans then, but that never came to fruition. But now, the center is an unrestricted free agent looking to bring his once-promising career back in check.
Okafor’s rookie season back in 2015 was the best of his career. He averaged 17.5 PPG on 50.8% from the floor, as well as 7.0 RPG and 1.2 BPG. But unfortunately, a meniscus tear in his knee cut his season short to just 53 games. He struggled to remain healthy next year too, playing restricted minutes during his recovery from the meniscus injury. And he was ruled out at the end of the season with right knee soreness (stemming from the meniscus tear). He was then traded to the Brooklyn Nets the following year (this past NBA season) and only appeared in 26 games throughout the season. For his entire career though, Okafor has pretty decent averages, putting up 12.9 PPG and 5.3 RPG.
Okafor has spent the last few months in Miami working with trainer David Alexander, who helped the center lose around 20 pounds. Alexander is known for being the trainer who brought Victor Oladipo into great shape last summer (which in part led to his rise to NBA stardom), as well as working with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade over the years.
It seems that a signing with the Pelicans would give Okafor the chance to compete for a bench role. The team has 3 solid forwards and centers in 5-time All-Star Anthony Davis, Julius Randle, and Nikola Mirotic. 2 of these players are likely going to start, while one will come off the bench in the frontcourt, leaving one more spot. This leaves a competition between Jahlil Okafor, Emeka Okafor, Alexis Ajinca, and Cheick Diallo for that final bench spot. It seems that Ajinca is not in the team’s future plans, and Diallo may be getting too old for the minutes he’ll have to play, as he’s going to be 36-years-old soon. And Emeka also seems to be on his way out, as he’s been paid just $100,000 of his $2.45 million contract.
So if Jahlil is able to wow the Pelicans staff and scouts during his training camp for them (assuming he gets signed a deal), then maybe we’ll find him on the final roster for October, where he will hold down the paint on defense and score easy, close-range buckets on offense. The training camp battle between the 4 centers will be fun to watch if it comes to realization, and this next season may be Okafor’s chance to prove to the world that he can still play at a competitive level.
Feature Image via Flikr/thewingnba
