Onyeka Okongwu - NBA Draft Room

NBA DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT

POSITION: PF C	FROM: USC	HT: 6-9	WT: 220
BORN: 12/11/00	YEAR: Fr.	WING: 7-1	REACH: NA

Draft Notes

Onyeka Okongwu is a lock to go in the top half of the lottery and will even be in consideration for no.1 overall. He’s in the top tier of our 2020 draft rankings, right up there with Anthony Edwards and James Wiseman.

In his one season at USC Okongwu was an overpowering force, using his quick-twitch power to blow by and go through defenders and explode to the rim. He’s built in the mold of Bam Adebayo and also reminds of Tristan Thompson (who I was really high on coming out of Texas) but with a more advanced offensive game than Tristan ever had.

There are a lot of good fits/potential landing spots for Onyeka in this draft with my favorite being Minnesota, where he could help hold down the middle and free up KAT to play his more perimeter oriented game. Not to mention, be insurance in case KAT walks out of town in a few years.

Strengths

A big, strong and athletic player who can really bang in the paint and hold his ground
An excellent shot blocker with good instincts and intelligent defensive play – knows how to avoid fouls and how to keep the ball in play when he blocks a shot
Does a good job of reading the flight of the ball and battling for rebounds on both ends
Has decent shooting form and has shown steady improvement – projects as a solid mid range shooter who could develop 3 point range
Has good hands and catches the ball well
Runs the floor well and is an above average open court athlete
Attacks the rim with aggression and great power, using his elite physical tools to blow by defenders and elevate and finish
Knows his role and doesn’t try to do too much – isn’t afraid to do the dirty work
Is still growing and projects to have NBA center size

Weaknesses

Onyeka doesn’t have a glaring weakness. He’s not a good 3pt shooter but he’s not expected to be…
He can be a bit rushed on offense and needs to let the game slow down