Devin Booker or Jahlil Okafor: Who you got?

[hateraid]

This is a legit discussion I had with someone. Who's better/gonna be better?

[MP.Trey]

If I wanted one of them on my team, I'd choose the kid without the attitude problem, Booker.

Okafor has more talent and potential to be better, I love how he plays the game offensively but questions about his drive and his attitude will always come to the forefront imo.

Booker will give me elite shooting, solid defense and a good team attitude. I'll take the guy who is coachable over the talented but sometimes dysfunctional one.

[Jameerthefear]

If I wanted one of them on my team, I'd choose the kid without the attitude problem, Booker.

Okafor has more talent and potential to be better, I love how he plays the game offensively but questions about his drive and his attitude will always come to the forefront imo.

Booker will give me elite shooting, solid defense and a good team attitude. I'll take the guy who is coachable over the talented but sometimes dysfunctional one.
:biggums:

[FreezingTsmoove]

Tough one but im going with Jahlil he has such an amazing post game for a guy his age but Devin Booker already has such an advanced offensive skillset for his age

Both future all stars

[atljonesbro]

Okafor. This guy is gonna be a monsters for years to come. I'm not sure how good Booker can become. He'll obviously be a great shooter but idk of he'll have the ability to dominate a game offensively like okafor will be able to

[STATUTORY]

Devin Booker if I'm a contender, Okafor if it's a bottom dwelling team that wants to sell some tickets to mouth breathers

[PJR]

Justise Winslow

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

Booker since he's not troublesome and it's 2016.


(jk, i still firmly believe bigmen have a place in the NBA)

[hateraid]

Somehow I can't help but feel Okafor is really underrated

[hateraid]

Any other opinions? I don't really have enough here to go off of

[Dr Seuss]

the current trend of the league favors players like booker. okafor is a great talent, but this up and down game which looks like its here to stay, isnt doing j lil any favors

also, with okafor, you need to pair him with a good pick n roll big. thats not impossible to do so, but booker would be easier to build around

[Sarcastic]

Okafor is the better player.

[ClipperRevival]

I think both have bright futures.

Booker showed flashes last year and that's what you want to see in young players.

But give me Okafor. Dude just has way too much going for him NOT to be a dominant offensive player. He's got questions with his D but dude is amazingly long (7'5" wingspan, 9', 2.5" standing). If he smartens up, he might be proficient enough on D. But consider his positives on O: huge hands, light feet, great touch, polished post up game, that big booty to shield guys and just a natural feel for the game. Things you can't teach bigs are touch, light feet, huge hands and length. I'll be shocked if this guy isn't averaging at least 20 ppg for the next 10-12 years, with some years peaking at 25+ PPG.

Lakers should've drafted Okafor in hindsight. No way can you pass up on a guy like that. I don't care what era this is. You force the D to adjust to Okafor.

[HurricaneKid]

The farther we get down this 3 pt shooting rabbit hole the less teams will be able to keep true Cs on the floor. The reason there aren't any real C int he league is that they CANNOT switch and defend the PnR out at the 3 point line. And Okafor is never going to be anything but a defensive liability.

Booker is subpar defensively but he can stretch defenses, etc.

I'm not real high on either but I'm certainly higher on the guy that has the skillset to play in this game.

Okafor should have been born 25 years earlier. He would have been a player in that age.

[ClipperRevival]

The farther we get down this 3 pt shooting rabbit hole the less teams will be able to keep true Cs on the floor. The reason there aren't any real C int he league is that they CANNOT switch and defend the PnR out at the 3 point line. And Okafor is never going to be anything but a defensive liability.

Booker is subpar defensively but he can stretch defenses, etc.

I'm not real high on either but I'm certainly higher on the guy that has the skillset to play in this game.

Okafor should have been born 25 years earlier. He would have been a player in that age.

I don't know about that. I mean OKC should've advanced past GSW if their two stars didn't choke. And they were handling GSW pretty well for almost a 3 straight game stretch with physicality, size and rebounding. This is a copy cat league. How would the world have viewed the 3 if OKC advanced and OKC/CLE played a more grind it out game? Right now, it's the 3. But as soon as trends change, it can change quickly. So I'm not all into the 3 as a signed, sealed and delivered guarantee for the future of the game. It just takes a couple dominant inside players to change perceptions imo.

I'm still old school. You give me a guy like Okafor who can just dominate in the post and I'm going to use him and make the D double him and open things up. I'm going to try to dictate the pace.

[HurricaneKid]

I don't know about that. I mean OKC should've advanced past GSW if their two stars didn't choke. And they were handling GSW pretty well for almost a 3 straight game stretch with physicality, size and rebounding. This is a copy cat league. How would the world have viewed the 3 if OKC advanced and OKC/CLE played a more grind it out game? Right now, it's the 3. But as soon as trends change, it can change quickly. So I'm not all into the 3 as a signed, sealed and delivered guarantee for the future of the game. It just takes a couple dominant inside players to change perceptions imo.

I'm still old school. You give me a guy like Okafor who can just dominate in the post and I'm going to use him and make the D double him and open things up. I'm going to try to dictate the pace.

Do you see how good Ibaka and Adams are in space? In G2 against the Spurs he defended the 3 on 1, and even got out to block the 3 pt attempt. He is insanely good in space. Kanter, the guy who ranked 10th in the NBA in PER played 12.2 min/gm in that series.

Okafor is the opposite. If he gets 12 feet from the basket he starts shaking. If he played a meaningful game the opposition would do NOTHING but put him in PnRs. And they would GUT him. Hell, he got GUTTED by Kaminsky in the Natl Championship.

The point is that you can score on him in the high PnR a lot easier than he can score on you in the post. And that's why I said he was born into the wrong era.

[ClipperRevival]

Do you see how good Ibaka and Adams are in space? In G2 against the Spurs he defended the 3 on 1, and even got out to block the 3 pt attempt. He is insanely good in space. Kanter, the guy who ranked 10th in the NBA in PER played 12.2 min/gm in that series.

Okafor is the opposite. If he gets 12 feet from the basket he starts shaking. If he played a meaningful game the opposition would do NOTHING but put him in PnRs. And they would GUT him. Hell, he got GUTTED by Kaminsky in the Natl Championship.

The point is that you can score on him in the high PnR a lot easier than he can score on you in the post. And that's why I said he was born into the wrong era.

I hear ya. I just think it's a little too early to say he'll be a terrible defender in space. As I said in my original post in this thread, dude is extremely long, almost freakishly long. And that helps. And he's also got light feet which also helps. But you could very well be right about him. We'll have to see. I just haven't seen enough of his D to make a decent analysis.

But I do look forward to see how good he will be on offense.

[fourkicks44]

Any other opinions? I don't really have enough here to go off of

Ahh Hateraid I see what's goin on here.

Pound for pound I take Okafor. That post game is harder to acquire in the modern era. The kid has proved how good he is this year. I believe (maybe a biased opinion) that if he didn't get injured should have got ROTY or at least top 2 in voting. See voting resluts here:

http://official.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/05/2015-16-Rookie-of-the-Year.pdf

Who I would pick if I was the Sixers' organisation. I know the rumor of Okafor for Booker and the 4th pick? I want that 4th pick to take Jamal Murray if available, but don't know if Booker will optimally fit in with both Simmons and Murray. Plus I am VERY hesitant on trading Okafor BEFORE we see Embid on court.

Hypothetically:

Simmons
Murray
Booker
Embid (healthy)
Noel

Looks pretty good with the addition of a veteran PG in the rotation. But the key as usual is the anticipation of Embid's health.

[G-train]

Booker

Gut feeling

[PejaNowitzki]

Booker. Maturity beyond his years and a tremendous basketball IQ, fits well with the direction that the league is going in.

[PejaNowitzki]

I know the rumor of Okafor for Booker and the 4th pick? .


Suns GM should be fired that same day if he makes that trade.

[Prime_Shaq]

Devin Booker is the future Steph Curry.

Quote me on that shit.

[livingby3's]

in response to some of the replies in this thread, Booker is more than just a shooter, I will tell you that much