Re: GYER27-0
Charlie (NY)
Okafor has been the consensus number one pick for months, but Towns seems to be rising on draft boards. Could he potentially challenge Okafor for the top spot? Is he a better prospect?Chad Ford
(1:39 PM)
Okafor's grip on the number one pick has loosened considerably over the past few weeks. I wrote about this in several columns but the rise of D'Angelo Russell and the improvement of Karl-Anthony Towns gives teams several other viable candidates with, perhaps, more upside than Okafor. And you can't write off Emmanuel Mudiay either. I know a number of NBA people who swear he's going to be awesome in the NBA. Okafor is the most NBA ready. He's as polished of a freshman big man as I've seen in the last decade and every team would love a big guy who can draw a double-team every time he touches the ball in the block. But he's no longer the only guy who could make sense at No. 1. Okafor is still No. 1 on our Big Board but the gap between him and picks 2-4 has narrowed considerably.
Troy (Indy)
If Towns becomes an 18 and 10 guy while strectching the floor some and being an elite defender and rim protector, isn't that more valuable to a franchise in the league today than a guy who does not protect the paint but puts up something like 23 and 12 (Okafor)?Chad Ford
(1:41 PM)
That's exactly the type of questions scouts and GMs are asking. I actually think Towns is the better rebounder than Okafor so you might say 18 points, 12 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game compared to 23, 9 and 1 block per game. The analytics favor Towns right now. He's a little more athletic, a little bigger, and just a better defender. But as much as Towns has offensive upside because he can really shoot the ball, he still lacks Okafor's polish and footwork in the post.
