Somebody needs to tell Danny Ainge - the Celtics are not broke. Stop trying to fix them.
There have been rumors circulating, in regards to Boston’s interest in acquiring, the 76ers (benched) center Jahlil Okafor. The tabloid factory that is promoting this brand of weak hype is doing the Celtics, and their fans, a disservice.
We do not need another face-value big man to dissolve in Brad Stevens’ system.
If you only examined the back of this dude’s basketball card then you’d mistakenly presume that he would be a valuable asset on any NBA team. You would also be in agreement with the 2015 Philadelphia 76ers, who selected Okafor 3rd overall in that year’s NBA Draft. Now do you feel stupid?
He promised to be the first heartening glimpse of “the process”, or the rebuilding of the 76ers. 2 years into Okafor’s turbulent tenure with Philadelphia, and he’s their most expensive ornament riding the pine.
There is a reason why Philly has given up on Jahlil Okafor. And it suggests that the Celtics should reconsider their valuation of this potential pick-up. Okafor is the illusion of an NBA superstar; a mirage that disappears when it’s put to the real test.
Damaged Goods
The excitement surrounding Okafor’s request to be “traded or bought out” is completely understandable. He has had his fleeting moments of prolific scoring, in the NBA and in college. But eventually the law of large numbers betrays a truth about sustainability.
Okafor’s game is not sustainable, due to the problems manifold that have kept this guy off of the court, for a good portion of his NBA career. He has missed just about 40% of the games that he could have played in. That’s far from the portrait of a dependable player.
Celtics fans should be familiar with an incident that plagued Okafor earlier in his career. There is video evidence, from November of 2015, of Jahlil getting caught up in a fight, outside of a Boston nightclub. This was the second time that he had been accused of getting into an altercation, after playing a game against the Celtics.
Clearly Boston is not this guy’s favorite city to visit. Why would he want to play here, for any period of time?
The 76ers decided that Okafor’s belligerent behavior was worthy of a suspension. He was a member of the visiting team, when the incident(s) occurred. This problematic sample, implies that there would be more trouble to come if Jahlil Okafor was given the opportunity to find it, here in Boston.
The list goes on. In his rookie year, after returning from the 2-game nightclub suspension, Okafor tore his right meniscus. For those of you who need a layman’s translation - he injured his right knee.
As a center who is 6’11” and 255 lbs, having both knees available is more than critical to performing the responsibilities of his job. It’s necessary. Once that cartilage and those tendons start to deteriorate, recovery is a bumpy road to go down.
The 76ers would tell you that Okafor is currently being benched because of some “disagreement” or “internal argument”. But that’s just business-babble. They’re selling a product after all. A look through the microscope might reveal that Okafor is more damaged (psychologically and/or physically) than he is dissident.
Don’t get it twisted - Jahlil Okafor is not the prodigy, once heralded coming out of Duke, that everyone expected him to be. He is an egg that doesn’t respond to incubation. Unfortunately, at this point in his career, it appears as though he may never hatch.
And the Celtics simply do not need him. The preconceived rebounding problem on this 2017-18 team does not exist. At best, he would give the C’s 20 minutes a night, coming off the bench, of middling and incongruent basketball.
For once, Boston and Danny Ainge should take the advice of the Philadelphia 76ers (they would know) - you do not want Jahlil Okafor on your basketball team.
