NBA Draft 2019 Prospect Watch: KZ Okpala

Weaknesses

One of the obvious drawbacks on Okpala’s case as a prospect at present is the possibility that the various glimpses of potential could prove to be just that, never developing further, and leaving him out of the league in the short to medium term.

Also worth noting, for all of the positives surrounding Okpala’s physical tools, he’s currently a little wiry and on the lean side. There’s no reason to believe he can’t fill out with the help of an NBA strength and conditioning staff, but until that happens he may find himself dealing with tough matchups against much stronger opponents.

That also impacts what Okpala can do across the floor. At the moment, dribbling into traffic, finishing through bodies in the paint, and defending in the post could all leave him susceptible to being outmuscled and losing those respective battles.

Then, even if Okpala proves to be a smarter defender than was necessarily on display at Stanford, his three-point shooting will still need to be monitored very closely. Even for him to be viewed as solely a catch-and-shoot threat, he’ll have some work to do in proving that last season’s gains in that area weren’t simply a one-off.