25-under-25: Biggest disappointments

5. Jahlil Okafor

I almost didn’t even want to include Jahlil Okafor and write about how rough his last two seasons have been because, really, hasn’t he been through enough? After helping lead Duke to a national championship in 2015 and becoming the No. 3 overall pick in that year’s draft, Okafor looked like a promising pro prospect in at least one way. He had one very well-honed and valuable skill: he could reliably score in the low post. That’s a good thing to be able to do, for sure, but there were some problems as that was pretty much the only thing he could do well. Despite his size, he was a not that good of a rebounder, but even worse was his defense. He did not have the athleticism or savvy to stay in front of perimeter players on switches out of the pick-and-roll and showed no ability or desire to stop anyone at the rim either.

Once Joel Embiid was healthy in Okafor’s second season, there was less place for him and his minutes dropped accordingly. The following season, he only played two games for the Sixers before being traded to the Nets, where he played better than he had in Philadelphia, but it was still unsure where he fit there. This offseason, he signed with the Pelicans where he hopes to find a place in the rotation off the bench as a scorer, but it’s still not exactly clear what role Okafor can play in the modern NBA in light of his deficiencies, which considering his seemingly apparent promise upon entering the league is certainly a disappointment.