Jahlil Okafor is not going to be the next Tim Duncan. Mostly because there is never going to be another Tim Duncan — he is for my money the greatest power forward ever to play the game. Sorry Karl.
That doesn’t mean Okafor can’t be great in his own right. Sixers coach Brett Brown — a former Spurs’ assistant who worked with Duncan — was asked on Comcast Sportsnet Philly if Okafor could be the next Duncan (you can see the video above).
“I think if we can help him with his rebounding and help him with his defense. Offensively, there are similarities. We’ve got to help grow him in those other areas.”
There were Okafor and Duncan comparisons around the draft, but those were more about the level of polish on the offensive game than anything else. Okafor should have an excellent NBA career, but to throw Duncan out as a benchmark wouldn’t be fair for anyone.
Another question thrown at Brown: Did he think Philly fans see Dario Saric — who has looked good at EuroBasket — anytime soon?
“I do. I think the city is going to see something extraordinarily competitive, very, very skilled and I think his personality, his style of play fits perfectly in this city.”
Saric has said he will come over for the 2016-17 season. However, there are financial motives for him to spend one more season beyond that overseas — if he comes over in 2016 he’s locked into a rookie scale NBA contract, if he comes over three years after he is drafted he can negotiate any deal he can get with the Sixers. It’s what Tiago Splitter and others have done; we’ll see what Saric ultimately chooses.