How is Jahlil Okafor progressing in Brooklyn?

Years can seem like an eternity in the NBA. But they aren’t. They’re 365 days long, just like they are for the rest of us.

And yet, impressions formed early harden into concrete. It solidifes some players, gives them permanence in the league. For others, well, it takes a career to overcome, with many never earning the chance.

All of which is why the Brooklyn Nets giving Jahlil Okafor an opportunity to show that he is capable of contributing, with stardom something neither player nor team is willing to rule out, makes so much sense. How good can he be?

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“To be determined,” his coach, Kenny Atkinson, said prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Knicks, a team that coveted Okafor in the 2015 NBA Draft before settling for Kristaps Porzingis. “I think I’m learning Jahlil as a player. He’s learning me. It’s almost like we’re just out of training camp with him in terms of learning him. I will say this: he has bought in 100 percent to the style of play we’re playing.”

The speed with which observers, even many in the league, decided what Okafor was and wasn’t belies the very nature of how players, how people develop. Expectations, dragged down by a poor fit between player and team in Philadelphia and further reduced as the Nets spent weeks slow-walking Okafor into their rotation, building up his stamina and teaching him his new role, left many surprised when on Saturday night, he went out and put up 21 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He did it through a combination of paths — sure, there is the capable post play that made him unstoppable at Duke. But then there’s his pick-and-roll game, which has jumped from 1.034 points per possession last year in Philly, per Synergy, all the way up to 1.429 in Brooklyn—good for 16th in the league.

“The pick-and-roll is something Kenny wanted me to emphasize, as part of being able to make quick decisions,” Okafor said, standing courtside Tuesday night. “I can get stagnant in the post, so the pick-and-roll means more facilitating, and I’ve been taking to that more.”

Okafor’s NBA career is a tribute to how long and short views can be. He was surprised when reporters asked him about his breakthrough game as if it represented something new — to Okafor, it fit comfortably in the narrative he’s been living. He outperformed Karl-Anthony Towns? Well sure, plenty of people believed Okafor should have been selected ahead of Towns in the 2015 NBA Draft (though they are quiet these days).

For Okafor, the exceptional moments are when he isn’t out on the basketball court, dominating. That’s been his normal. And yet, his struggles have become our normal, and even those who watched him seem to herald a new era of classic posts in Chicago and then, quickly but persuasively, with Mike Krzyzewski at Duke have mostly seen Okafor play little of late.

“I have been putting in the work my entire life, and I’ve played basketball my entire life, and have had success doing it,” Okafor said. “So I’m not saying it’s not a big deal to me, but I still would believe in myself, regardless of the outcome. I put the hard work in, and it may not always translate to the floor right away. But eventually, it will.”

There’s still a perception gap. Asked before the game, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek compared Okafor to Al Jefferson: “He’s still one of those guys who, when he gets the ball in that paint area, he’s got great touch. He’s got good footwork so he can spin.” Asked if he saw anything different between Philly Okafor and Brooklyn Okafor, Hornacek responded: “Not really.”

The changes are evident in ways large and small. Okafor’s even taken three 3s so far in his limited time as a Net. And when the Knicks went small late in the first quarter, the comfort Okafor showed when he grabbed a long rebound out near the top of the key, pivoted and found Joe Harris in stride for a 3-pointer — well, no offense to Al Jefferson, who Okafor pointed out was “one hell of a player”, but Okafor looked nothing like the post-bound reputation he was saddled with and hardened while he waited out Philly and got comfortable in Brooklyn — oh, and turned 22 in December. He’s effectively a college senior in another life, and most of us are just starting to get snippets of him on highlight films.

But Brooklyn’s entire talent acquisition philosophy, born partly of necessity thanks to original Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett sin, is to get these guys on their first contracts but second chances. Okafor. D’Angelo Russell. Even Anthony Bennett turned up in Brooklyn for a time last year.

“I mean, that’s the philosophy,” Atkinson said. “And I don’t want to judge other teams on what they do. But I think Sean [Marks] has done a great job of bringing in young guys, high picks and giving them a second opportunity. That’s how we’ve created our picks that we didn’t have. And sometimes you’re just not in the right situation — it could be style of play, it could be that they’re too young at that point. It takes a while sometimes… We’re hoping they fulfill their potential. That’s the idea.”

Okafor takes the long view, but these next few months are pivotal for him in the macro outlook of his career. The Sixers set him on an expedited timetable when they declined his option this past fall, making him a free agent next summer. If he can convince the Nets he’s part of their long-term solution, he can keep growing himself slowly, let the changes to his diet keep compounding to his benefit, shed that rim-bound reputation through a combination of self-improvement and Atkinson’s self-described “ball-movement, player-movement system”.

If not? He’ll be on to his third team, all before the age of 23. That happens for a million reasons, yet it always seems to be assigned to some fault of the player. Few franchises are equipped with quite the lengthy timeline of the Nets, who aren’t planning to contend anytime soon. It is a land not just of second chances, but extended ones for the right player.

“We told him when he came here, you’ve got to earn it,” Atkinson said. “There’s nothing given. And that was a good showing in Minnesota. He’s getting in better shape, he’s understanding what we’re trying to do. He’s starting to earn more minutes.”

The growing pains were evident, though Atkinson was true to his word, and Okafor played extended minutes in the first half against the Knicks. He grabbed rebounds, but went up too quickly and turned it over. A pass out of the post sailed past an open 3-point shooter. Nothing too shocking or damning: a young player, in his third season in the league but just his fifteenth game in Brooklyn’s black and white.

The Garden was not Eden, but Knicks fans rested comfortably knowing they are ahead of the Nets on the road to respectibility. Consolation prize Porzingis poured in 28, hit six 3s.

And with just under ten minutes left in the game, a flash of the new Okafor: he took the pass from Isaiah Whitehead at the free throw line, dribbled between his legs, finished with the layup, drawing the foul, as if in one continuous motion.

The crowd barely stirred. Did anyone see? Is this enough? Okafor finished with 13 rebounds, drew praise from his coach postgame. But what will it take for a reassessment of Jahlil Okafor, now all of 22 years old?

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“My goal is the same,” Okafor said. “I want to be the best player I can be. I have high dreams, high goals for myself. And I work hard every day to achieve those goals. I’m not afraid of failure. So I just go out there and perform. If I perform well, I’m happy, if I don’t, I’m still happy, because I know I’m putting the work in.”