A Celtics trade for Jahlil Okafor would make sense — but not for the most obvious reason
The Sixers center's skill-set is reminiscent of another recent Celtic whose best contribution came as the key piece in a franchise-altering trade
COMMENTARY
I’m not sure that what follows here counts as an outright epiphany. But I figure it at least passes for an original thought at a pivotal time for the Celtics when so much of the dialogue about their present and future consists of familiar caterwauling about why Kevin Durant will never come here.
Yes, Durant is a daydream, but one that has had just enough possibility surrounding it to imagine it might come true. Does it look like it will happen now? Well, let’s put it this way: There seems a better chance of the Warriors collectively packing up, ditching the Bay Area in the dead of night, Baltimore Colts-style, and joining Durant in Oklahoma City than there is of Durant joining the Warriors or the Celtics or anyone else in free agency.
The Thunder is rolling, up 2-1 on the 73-win Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, and looking like the superior team. It is as impressive as it is jarring. Durant probably wasn’t going to leave had his team been humiliated this postseason, given that the Thunder can pay him the most money. It’s hard to figure he leaves now, with the Thunder doing the humiliating.
But even if we have to tuck that particular wish away for the time being, if not permanently, that does not make the Celtics’ offseason – especially the next month in advance of the June 23 draft — any less interesting. This is the silly season, where we all think we know what Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge should do — and have no idea what he actually will do.
The Celtics hold the third pick in a draft that is perceived as Duke’s Brandon Ingram, LSU’s Ben Simmons, and Everyone Else. When the ping-pong balls stayed true in the lottery and there was not a single change to the draft order, it felt like the Celtics had just missed out on a jackpot.
That’s not true.
For one thing, there is time for some other singular prospect to emerge during the pre-draft process, just as Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell did last year in bumping Duke’s Jahlil Okafor from perceived top-two selection status, with Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns the other prize (and eventual No. 1 pick).
Even if no one leapfrogs into the top two this year, there are other prizes, other future stars and perhaps even superstars, to be had. It’s on Ainge to identify who they happen to be. It’s a tricky game, for sure.
Ainge’s fundamental philosophy during the draft has been to take the best available player on the Celtics’ draft board, even if it’s at a position of depth. But can he afford to do that this year? What if the Celtics, already deep at guard with Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart and more, identify Kris Dunn or Buddy Hield as the proverbial Best Available at that spot?
There are only so many backcourt minutes to go around, and while Celtics coach Brad Stevens could probably do something creative and moderately successful with a five-guard offense, this is not a 6-foot-5-and-under league. It’s practically imperative that the Celtics either take a big man or trade one or more of their guards.
Or … they could make a trade for a big man with, say, a team that could use a couple of (comparatively) little men. There’s one deal in particular that makes obvious sense. The familiar rumor, which can be traced to the trading deadline in February, indicates that the Celtics have tried to acquire 20-year-old center Jahlil Okafor from the Sixers.
The Sixers have a trio of talented young bigs in Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and a reportedly healthy Joel Embiid, and they also hold the top pick in this year’s draft. They crave skill in the backcourt, but it would be shocking of they used that No. 1 pick on anyone but Ingram or Simmons, both forwards. The situation makes Okafor, potentially, a hell of a trade chip. He’s classic post-up scorer whose first season was abbreviated to 53 games due to a torn meniscus in his knee. Yet, he finished fifth in the rookie of the year balloting.
Okafor is good. So why would they trade him? Because it makes a hell of a lot of sense. The Sixers, who might actually try to win more than a dozen games this year, might be better – they’d certainly be more well-rounded – if they traded him for capable guard help.
Which, finally, brings us to the portion of our program that perhaps qualifies as that epiphany, or maybe a semi-epiphany, I hope.
If the Celtics did trade the No. 3 pick and assorted other pieces to the Sixers for Okafor, I don’t believe it would be to keep him long-term. I don’t think Ainge or Stevens would look at Okafor as a core player, as reasonable as such a presumption would be. I think they’d look at him as the key piece to help them get the superstar they need in a trade. I think they’d look at him as their new Al Jefferson.
The comparison is obvious from a skill set standpoint: Both players are polished and instinctive back-to-the-basket scorers who can’t or don’t play a lick of defense. It makes sense from a statistical standpoint: Okafor, as a 20-year-old rookie after one year at Duke, averaged 17.5 points and 7 rebounds per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the field.
Okafor is more advanced than Jefferson, chosen 15th overall by the Celtics in 2004 out of Prentiss (Miss.) High, was at the same age. But at 22, in his third season, Jefferson averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game while shooting 51.4 percent from the field. Basically what Okafor did this year, right?
Right. And that offseason, Jefferson was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves as the centerpiece in the Celtics’ blockbuster trade for Kevin Garnett.
One of the recent laments regarding the Celtics’ inability to make a trade for an established star is that they don’t have another Jefferson, a young, very well-regarded prospect who has had some success and is still seasons from his prime. Okafor would be that player. Sure, it might be difficult to pull off a trade for him within the division, though Ainge has a long working relationship with Sixers honchos Jerry and Bryan Colangelo that goes back to their mutual seasons with the Suns.
The next month will be spent trying to figure out what Ainge would like to do (c’mon, Durant, at least grant Boston a visit!), what he can do, and ultimately what he will do. There will be surprises – there must be a free agent he covets that we’re not talking about, and is anyone else kind of intrigued by Kent Bazemore?
A deal for Jahlil Okafor? That would not qualify as a surprise, for it makes sense three different ways. It makes sense for the Sixers to trade him for the right price and more roster balance. It makes sense for the Celtics to trade for him, again at the right price. And when the right superstar becomes available, hopefully sooner rather than later, it would make sense to trade him again.
Okafor could be the new Al Jefferson, in more ways than one.
He could be good here. Better yet, he could help get someone who’d be even better.
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