From all the scouting reports the Hawks gathered on Onyeka Okongwu, all the film they watched, all the interviews they conducted, one quality of his stood out from the rest.
Opposing players deeply respect him, and they made that known to the Hawks.
“Every team that had a player we talked to who played against Onyeka, they all said ‘This guy’s a beast,’” Schlenk said. “‘He’s a beast.’ So when players respect you, having played against you, that says a lot.”
The Hawks went with Okongwu at No. 6, and add his defensive ability and offensive upside to a team trying to go from 20-47 to the playoffs (or at least contending for a spot) the very next season. Okongwu (6-foot-9, 245 pounds) has intangibles galore, and is an explosive, powerful center who hustles. The Hawks feel he can eventually play some power forward, especially if opponents deploy two big guys, given his quickness and ability to move side-to-side on defense. But he’ll start out primarily playing center, Schlenk said.
In some ways, Okongwu fits right in with the Hawks, given its desperate need for players who can defend at a high level and rebound the ball. In others, the fit is interesting, since the Hawks have centers Clint Capela, Dewayne Dedmon and Bruno Fernando under contract (when talking about their center rotation, Schlenk did make a point to say Dedmon is on an expiring contract).
They also have power forward John Collins, but could use some depth behind him, although De’Andre Hunter can play the 4, as well. They will not extend qualifying offers to forward/center Skal Labissiere or center Damian Jones, who will become unrestricted free agents.
All this adds up to a backlog of bigs, but from Schlenk’s perspective, that competition is a good thing. If the Hawks’ roster is going to improve and the team is truly going to try to start winning, rookies are increasingly going to have to earn playing time — it won’t just be handed to them based off talent or potential.
“Onyeka’s going to come in, and he’s going to have to compete for his minutes,” Schlenk said. “Obviously Dewayne’s essentially an expiring contract for us, but he’s been with us and he’s a veteran and he’s a good communicator, Clint’s a proven player, so I think it’s just a positive for all our guys. To have to be able to compete for their minutes and playing time; that just increases the whole level of our team.”
Okongwu draws comparisons to Miami All-Star Bam Adebayo, though of course he’s got quite a ways to go before reaching that level. Okongwu averaged 16.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks as a freshman at USC, barely taking any 3′s (25% from 3-point range), but shooting 72% from the line (taking 5.1 free throws per game), the latter of which is a good indication his shot can develop in the NBA.
With the way the game is trending, the Hawks are hoping Okongwu can make some progress with his jumper.
“I think he only shot 35 jump shots in college this year, but he’s a plus-70% free-throw shooter, so we think as he gets into the NBA and he’s taking hundreds of jump shots a day, we think that he’s going to be able to extend his range,” Schlenk said. “He’s got a nice touch. … In today’s NBA, everybody’s got to be able to shoot the ball a little bit, right? If you have a big guy that can stretch the floor out even to the 3-point line on the corners, that just makes you all the more dangerous and versatile.”
Closer to the basket, though, Okongwu excels as a rim-runner and lob threat. He’s going to “catch everything,” Schlenk said, which bodes extremely well for whenever he’s playing alongside Trae Young, who nearly cracked 10 assists per game last season (9.3, second in the league behind only LeBron James).
“Trae Young, he’s a great point guard,” Okongwu said. “He can shoot. He’s a great passer. He’s a very good passer. I like to move around a lot, so obviously Trae Young is a great passer, can hit me when I’m open, I’m catching them lobs. I’m excited to play with him and looking forward to going to Atlanta and just playing. I haven’t been able to play a lot. I haven’t played in so long, that’s why I’m excited for it.”
On defense, with his ability to anticipate, Okongwu is the kind of player the Hawks needed to add.
They had the third-worst defensive rating last season (114.4) and had a center rotation of Alex Len, Damian Jones and Bruno Fernando that largely disappointed, both on offense and defense, before adding Dedmon and Capela at the trade deadline (Capela wasn’t able to make his debut because of a heel injury but is now fully healthy). Collins played some small-ball five, as well, as the Hawks searched for answers.
The Hawks’ group of available centers of Capela, Okongwu, Dedmon and Fernando will be much more competitive this go-around.
“That’s certainly his strength coming into the NBA, right, he’s going to be a plus-rebounder, defensively, he’s going to be a rim protector,” Schlenk said of Okongwu. “And the other thing that he does, he moves his feet very, very well in pick-and-roll coverages. … It’s extremely important for big guys to be able to guard in pick-and-rolls, and those are his strengths coming in. He’s got great instincts, he’s got good hands, so we’re really excited about his potential there, and we think he’s just scratching the surface of what he can be offensively.”
Schlenk also expressed confidence in Okongwu’s ability to organize the defense.
“As we’ve talked about in the past, improving defensively is important for our group,” Schlenk said. “And the foundation of your defense is your big guy. They’re kind of the quarterback of the defense. They’re on the back line, they see everything, they have to be communicators and talk to the rest of the group and obviously when there are breakdowns, being able to come in and erase those breakdowns and pick guys up, and that’s his strength, and that’s a very valuable strength in the NBA.”
Okongwu has a stress fracture in the sesamoid bone in his left foot, but Hawks doctors didn’t express any long-term concern over the injury, per Schlenk. At this time, it’s unclear what kind of preseason workouts Okongwu will be able to do.
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