Jahlil Okafor Finishes 5th in Rookie of the Year Voting
Sixers’ center Jahlil Okafor finished 5th in rookie of the year voting | Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jahlil Okafor finished 5th in Rookie of the Year voting, the NBA announced today.
Okafor, who received a total of 34 points, finished behind Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns (650 points), New York’s Kristaps Porzingis (363), Denver’s Nikola Jokic (59), and Phoenix’s Devin Booker (49).
Towns was a unanimous winner, receiving all 130 first place votes. Porzingis received 117 out of 130 second place votes.
Okafor appeared in just 53 games for the Sixers, 48 starts, averaging 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocked shots per game. His 17.5 points per game average was the second best among rookies, behind Towns’ 18.3.
Sixers rookies have fared well in Rookie of the Year voting in recent years, with Michael Carter-Williams winning the award in 2014, and Nerlens Noel finished third in 2015.
Okafor was hurt by the amount of time he missed, as the top-4 played 82, 72, 80, and 76 games, respectively, compared to just 53 for Okafor. That, combined with a heated debate among voters who place a higher emphasis on advanced statistical analysis, likely hurt Okafor’s chances.
Despite his prodigious scoring output, Okafor’s ranking in value over replacement player (-1.0, 3rd worst among qualifying rookies), box plus/minus (-4.1, also 3rd worst), and win shares (1.2, 16th out of 22) all reflected this divide.
Okafor had surgery to repair a small tear in his meniscus back in March and missed the remainder of the season. He has yet to return to basketball related activities.
When Okafor does return, he will join a crowded front court, with Nerlens Noel a natural center as well, along with the potential additions of Joel Embiid (returning from surgery to repair the navicular bone in his right foot), Dario Saric (expected to leave Anadolu Efes to join the Sixers this summer), and any possible additions in June 23rd’s draft also sharing time in the front court.
Derek Bodner covers the 76ers for Philadelphia magazine. Follow @DerekBodnerNBA on Twitter.
