NBA Draft 2018 Prospect Watch: Elie Okobo
By Adam McGee
Strengths
Okobo is physically primed to be an NBA point guard. Standing at 6’3″ with a 6’8″ wingspan, the Frenchman also boasts a strong frame that is more accustomed to playing against larger, stronger athletes than most prospects are at his age.
The LNB Pro A has a long history as one of the stronger international basketball leagues, and has regularly produced high quality prospects who’ve gone on to succeed in the NBA — Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier and Frank Ntilikina stand as just a small selection of the examples.
With that in mind, it’s generally rare for a young player to log significant minutes at that level, yet after logging 13.4 minutes per game as a 19-year-old, Okobo returned this year to average 26.4 minutes per game across 36 contests.
Not only has that time afforded Okobo the chance to ready his body for a future in the NBA, but it’s given him plenty of opportunity to hone his skills too.
Okobo is an exceptional shooter, who’s comfortable taking a variety of different shot types. Although he’s close to automatic as a catch-and-shoot option, Okobo is very capable at knocking down pull-up jump shots and step-backs, and generally shooting on the move. Combining a range of difficult attempts, Okobo shot 41.8 percent from deep last season.
While Okobo’s best work out of the pick-and-roll may come from his shooting, he also possesses great court vision and the ability to make good reads and then execute difficult passes. His playmaking isn’t as efficient as it will need to be at the NBA level, but that’s certainly not due to an inability to spot and complete passes.
Okobo has the potential to be a terror in transition and is generally very strong in getting to the basket with penetration, in large part thanks to his nice mix of speed and strength. Okobo shows good body control on drives and has the potential to finish with both hands, while he also excels at kicking out to open shooters to finish his drives.
On the defensive end, Okobo’s length gives him plenty of opportunities to be a disruptive presence in the passing lanes and a chase down shot-blocker, but perhaps even more important is his lateral quickness and ability to stay in front of his man.