Rookie Cards Vol. 1: Deandre Ayton, Trae Young, Josh Okogie

Josh Okogie was projected as a late first or early second round pick when he entered the draft after two seasons at Georgia Tech. The scouting report on Okogie was: great athlete, plays with effort and intensity, solid perimeter defender, inconsistent shooter, decent slasher, but needs to develop a more well-rounded game on offense.

There are probably 25+ players with some version of this skill set in every draft and their career arc in the NBA can range form playing overseas in a year to rotation player/starter/All-Star. A lot depends on the individual player’s attitude and work ethic but it also takes the right team, right coach, right opportunity for a late first round or early second round pick to stick in the NBA.

In Minnesota, Okogie is playing for Tom Thibideou, a defensive-minded coach who rewards effort with playing time. With Jimmy Butler intermittently doing his Le’Veon Bell impression and Andrew Wiggins dealing with an early-season injury, Okogie has found himself in a great situation, probably sooner than he expected.

After not playing in the team’s first two games, Okojie was inserted into the starting lineup the third game of the season. He didn’t light up the box score but scored 6 points, had 5 boards, a steal, 2 assists and played sound defense. He started the next game too, scored 12 and has continued to see significant minutes, developing more confidence and making more of an impact as the season goes on.

He’s now played 10 games, starting in six, put up double-digit points in five and recorded his first double-double in a road game against Toronto. Okogie has one of the best defensive ratings on his team and is one of the best perimeter defenders behind Jimmy Butler. The Timberwolves have a solid young rotation player in Okojie at the very least but also someone with a ton of potential to develop over the next couple of seasons.

Also — I have no actual proof of this but I have to assume that Okojie was one of the guys playing with on Jimmy Butler’s team when he channeled his rage into a practice scrimmage and stomped the T’Wolves starting five with four third team/non-rotation players.

Best Game Stat Lines:

• 10/29 vs. LAL — 6 for 13, 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
• 11/2 @ GSW — 4 for 10, 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

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We’ll be covering the top 30 rookies and cycling through to cover each player twice during the regular season. Next week will be:

Marvin Bagley – No. 2 overall pick, Sacramento Kings

Jaren Jackson, Jr. – No. 4 pick, Memphis Grizzlies

Allonzo Trier – Undrafted, signed by the Knicks