The Philadelphia 76ers were extremely pleased when Jahlil Okafor fell to them at the number three pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Philadelphia is extremely high on the young big man, and they expect him to be a cornerstone for the franchise over the next several years. Okafor is likely going to be the starting center from day one in the NBA, but he is not likely to play big time minutes from the beginning of the season, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Okafor reportedly came into training camp in very good shape, but he has been hampered by a knee injury, and that has set him back a little bit. Okafor missed a few practices and a couple of games last week but was able to play in the Sixers preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. Still though, head coach Brett Brown doesn't plan to push him too much when the regular season begins.
"It's not fair to put him in that situation. The endgame I hope will be about 32, maybe even more. But it's really based on his fitness. He has no right to come out and be fit right from this injury, so I've got to be smart with the minutes I give him," said Brown.
Okafor did play 25 minutes on Sunday, so maybe he is progressing a little bit faster than even Brown expected. Either way though, 32 minutes seems like a bit of a stretch for the start of the season based on the way Brown has talked about the situation. Brown has said that Okafor won't be 100 percent when the regular season begins, but he played pretty well on Sunday, as he had 14 points and five rebounds, so he may just be.
The 19-year-old Okafor comes in with great expectations after a historic freshman season at Duke. Okafor became the first freshman ever to win the ACC Player of the Year award, and he was also named a first team All-American. The 6-foot-11 center is likely the favorite to take home Rookie of the Year honors this season based on his talent and his expected role and this minor injury shouldn't be too big of an impediment on that or his development with the 76ers.
