The Knicks can now officially "Choke for Okafor" | Syracusefan.com

The Knicks can now officially "Choke for Okafor"

Give me Towns. Really good offense and great defense. I also think Towns has better upside. I agree okafor is the better offensive player, but I think Towns is the better basketball player.
 
Quick question, what if the Knicks get pick 3 and both Towns and Okafor are gone. Who do you pick then? Russell? Muddy? Justice? Tough call.
 
Actionthrill said:
Quick question, what if the Knicks get pick 3 and both Towns and Okafor are gone. Who do you pick then? Russell? Muddy? Justice? Tough call.
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Depends on how married to the triangle they are.
 
Actionthrill said:
Quick question, what if the Knicks get pick 3 and both Towns and Okafor are gone. Who do you pick then? Russell? Muddy? Justice? Tough call.
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i would have to say mudday.. they dont have anyone even remotely decent in the PG role, he would thrive for them
 
cuseincincy said:
Nah, I'd much rather have Okafor. He's more aggressive in the lane. Towns plays too much below the rim ala Jared Sullinger. They'll both be great.
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Interesting, I kinda think Okafor is more of a below the rim guy. Especially on defense.
 
Actionthrill said:
Quick question, what if the Knicks get pick 3 and both Towns and Okafor are gone. Who do you pick then? Russell? Muddy? Justice? Tough call.
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As a non-Knicks fan, but someone that roots for them to be good, in this hypothetical, my hope for their offseason is:

Sign Paul Millsap, Brandon Knight, and a cheap but decent center like Robin Lopez.

Draft Russell or Mudiay (I lean towards Russell but they're both great).

PG: Russell/Mudiay
SG: Knight
SF: Melo
PF: Millsap
C: Lopez

Knight is a perfect back court mate for either one of those guys and Millsap is basically perfect with any C or SF in the league.

And if they get a top 2 pick, they can pick Okafor/Towns, play Knight as the PG in the triangle, and use the money they don't have to spend on Lopez to sign a role-playing SG.
 
Phoenix can match on Knight, and they just traded a lot for him, so I'd assume they'd match? Millsap is great though.
 
Knicks411 said:
Phoenix can match on Knight, and they just traded a lot for him, so I'd assume they'd match? Millsap is great though.
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Yeah, I think there's still a very strong possibility the Suns match whatever Knight gets, but he's struggled for them and then subsequently got injured. If the Knicks overpay him a little bit, it could be possible. I think it's at least worth pursuing.
 
This draft is strange to me. I'm not sold on either Towns or Okafor, but I am sold on Justice Winslow. Mudiay would be my next choice. Seems like there's elite value in picks 3-6 but 1 and 2, imo, are a little shaky.
 
I'm not sold on Justice personally. The way I see it:

Okafor can be a great post-scorer, and can develop into a guy that makes good passes out of the post to the point that you can basically build your offense around him.

Towns will never be that kind of scorer, but he can be effective in the post in spots while having a decent elbow jumper and playing good defense. If he settles into that kinda role, he can make a huge difference.

I like Russell next because he's so easy to pair guys with in the backcourt since he's a savvy scorer, has good size, and is a great passer.

After that, it's between Mudiay and Porzingis for me. Mudiay has a great skill set. The jumper is a huge concern. At the moment, he looks hopeless as a shooter, but if you can make a couple tweaks to his mechanics, things could be very different, and is potential as a slasher and distributor is great. Porzingis has such nice fluidity for a 7 footer, and has a great jumpshot and good athleticism to go with it. He's still raw, but everything is there for him to develop into a perennial all-star.

I can't figure out Winslow. He's had stretches where he's looked like a non-shooter, followed by stretches of being a great spot-up shooter. He can't shoot off the dribble at all and struggles at the free throw line, so I tend to think he's not a good shooter. At least not yet. The only thing I know for sure that he'll bring to an NBA team is his energy and defensive potential. He's got some pieces in place to become a decent scorer, but if he's not in transition, he's extremely easy to stop IMO. He basically would either catch-and-shoot, or he'd drive recklessly into the paint and teams didn't pick up on how easy it is to take charges from him yet because they were more concerned with Okafor, Jones, and Cook. To me, Winslow is closer to that 6-10 crowd with guys like Stanley Johnson than he is to my top 5. And I don't see the James Harden comparison that people keep throwing around at all. The only similarity between them is that Harden and Winslow both use the euro step a lot.
 
Melancer46 said:
I'm not sold on Justice personally. The way I see it:

Okafor can be a great post-scorer, and can develop into a guy that makes good passes out of the post to the point that you can basically build your offense around him.

Towns will never be that kind of scorer, but he can be effective in the post in spots while having a decent elbow jumper and playing good defense. If he settles into that kinda role, he can make a huge difference.

I like Russell next because he's so easy to pair guys with in the backcourt since he's a savvy scorer, has good size, and is a great passer.

After that, it's between Mudiay and Porzingis for me. Mudiay has a great skill set. The jumper is a huge concern. At the moment, he looks hopeless as a shooter, but if you can make a couple tweaks to his mechanics, things could be very different, and is potential as a slasher and distributor is great. Porzingis has such nice fluidity for a 7 footer, and has a great jumpshot and good athleticism to go with it. He's still raw, but everything is there for him to develop into a perennial all-star.

I can't figure out Winslow. He's had stretches where he's looked like a non-shooter, followed by stretches of being a great spot-up shooter. He can't shoot off the dribble at all and struggles at the free throw line, so I tend to think he's not a good shooter. At least not yet. The only thing I know for sure that he'll bring to an NBA team is his energy and defensive potential. He's got some pieces in place to become a decent scorer, but if he's not in transition, he's extremely easy to stop IMO. He basically would either catch-and-shoot, or he'd drive recklessly into the paint and teams didn't pick up on how easy it is to take charges from him yet because they were more concerned with Okafor, Jones, and Cook. To me, Winslow is closer to that 6-10 crowd with guys like Stanley Johnson than he is to my top 5. And I don't see the James Harden comparison that people keep throwing around at all. The only similarity between them is that Harden and Winslow both use the euro step a lot.
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I think Winslow has defensive-like capabilities of a Jimmy Butler, who I know the Knicks want and he seems to have some semblence of a shot. If he develops that shot, he can just run into the lane like Harden and live at the FT line, especially when teams have to focus on Melo.

Don't get me wrong, i'll be happy with Towns or Okafor but I don't see either of them as "tank-worthy" which is all we've done this year.
 
There is a part of me that thinks Mudiay is benefiting from not playing college ball and having so many eyes on him that can pick apart every flaw he has.

Melancer46 said:
I'm not sold on Justice personally. The way I see it:

Okafor can be a great post-scorer, and can develop into a guy that makes good passes out of the post to the point that you can basically build your offense around him.

Towns will never be that kind of scorer, but he can be effective in the post in spots while having a decent elbow jumper and playing good defense. If he settles into that kinda role, he can make a huge difference.
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I doubt Towns will ever be the scorer Okafor will be (he's probably going to be an elite NBA scorer within two years) but I think Towns can develop into a really effective scoring big man in a few years.
 
Knicks411 said:
There is a part of me that thinks Mudiay is benefiting from not playing college ball and having so many eyes on him that can pick apart every flaw he has.



I doubt Towns will ever be the scorer Okafor will be (he's probably going to be an elite NBA scorer within two years) but I think Towns can develop into a really effective scoring big man in a few years.
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In the very least, Towns' FT shooting will make a huge difference. Being a guy as big as he is while also being someone that you can't put on the line is a huge weapon even if his scoring ability isn't as good as Okafor's.

Marc Gasol is one of the only centers out there that I can think of that has Towns' potential as a big center that can hit jumpers, hurt you at the line, and develop into a great defensive center.
 
I think Okafor can improve his shooting deficiencies to an extent. My main concern, is he appeared to be exposed by Kaminsky on the defensive end when he was taken out on the floor and away from the basket. If it's Knicks, Jackson has already said he would go with defense. Love Okafor's athleticism and skills in the paint though.
 
cuseincincy said:
Nah, I'd much rather have Okafor. He's more aggressive in the lane. Towns plays too much below the rim ala Jared Sullinger. They'll both be great.
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I disagree, if either of them plays below the rim its Okafor, plus his body type scares me, I feel like hes carrying around to much weight and will have bad knees. Also Towns on defense is head and shoulders above Okafor.
 
Melancer46 said:
In the very least, Towns' FT shooting will make a huge difference. Being a guy as big as he is while also being someone that you can't put on the line is a huge weapon even if his scoring ability isn't as good as Okafor's.

Marc Gasol is one of the only centers out there that I can think of that has Towns' potential as a big center that can hit jumpers, hurt you at the line, and develop into a great defensive center.
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Towns FT shooting also gives me hope the offensive game has a lot of room to grow. 7 foot 19 year old who shoot over 80% from the line have to be a rare breed.
Also, for whatever it's worth, the guy is supposed to be a really good kid and great student (3.96 GPA in high school). I'm not knocking Okafor by saying this, but I have all the faith in the world Towns is going to do everything he can to maximize his abilities.
 
I don't think there is a franchise-changing player in this draft. Assuming you could get these guys to the teams that their abilities "fit", here would be my choices:

1. Jah - because I feel he can grow into an al jefferson-role. Give you points. Won't be great on defense. Get some boards just because he's big. With the right people around him, that is a valuable player. You are pocketing 20 ppg and someone that demands a double team. Real worried about his FT shooting. If that can't improve, it has to drop him. I'm assuming he can get up to 65%.

2. Justise - wings are dominating the game. If he can grow into an awesome wing defender on a pace and space team, he'll be incredibly valuable.

3. Mudiay - Great player for the "100% switching defense" where you want your guys to be able to defend 1-5 (or more likely at least four positions) like the Bucks with everyone having height and length. Haven't seen enough to evaluate his offensive game.

4. Towns - a functional center that will have 1 or 2 go to moves on the post. Hit his FTs if he gets fouled. And can be solid defender.

5. WCS - any guy that can guard four positions and potentially five, is worth a top five pick. Put that same guy on a pace and space team and you are looking at someone incredibly valuable.

I'm tempted to move Winslow and Mudiay into 1 and 2, but they would have to land on the right teams. You put Justise on the Knicks and it's going to be crap.
 
GoHamSU said:
I think WCS is a more athletic, but vastly lower skilled version of Joakim Noah.
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I think WCS has some Chandler potential. He moves incredibly well for a guy his size.

I could be talking myself into him because my team has a shot at him, but I see Towns as a potential franchise changer.
 
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