Josh Okogie Scouting Report

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Josh Okogie (Wing, 19, 6'5", 215 lbs)

Statistical Profile

Strengths

Okogie has prototypical size for a combo guard/wing in the NBA, standing 6'4.5" with a 7' wingspan and a powerful frame. He is young for his age having completed two college seasons and will only turn 20 in September. He compares favorably to many two guards in the league from a physical standpoint and has the athletic chops to match. He is a great athlete from a quickness perspective and has tremendous agility changing speeds and stopping on a dime. He has a terrific first step, good breakaway speed and is a great player in transition (transition opportunities were 24% of his scoring possessions last season). He embraces contact and drives the lane looking to draw fouls, doing so at an elite clip. In the same vein, he is an excellent offensive rebounder and crashes the glass hard.

Offensively, Okogie is a very good shooter from three and the free throw line. On 38 guarded catch-and-shoot opportunities, he scored 1.474 ppp, good for the 97th percentile in the NCAA. He was efficient over two full seasons with consistent percentages. He has an above-average pull-up game in the mid-range, flashed a step back three, and can competently create for himself. Georgia Tech lacked offensive creation so much was tasked to Okogie who was able to utilize his aggressiveness and athleticism to create scoring opportunities despite poor spacing and drawing the opposition’s best wing defender. Okogie is a good passer in most circumstances, and can run a pick-and-roll to some degree of success flashing plus vision hitting the roll man.

Defensively, Okogie is a very good on the ball. He has a remarkable combination of quick feet, strength, length and functional athleticism to contain dribble penetration and contest pull-ups or attempts at the rim.

He is very aggressive fighting through screens and is a spectacular point guard defender due to his ability to stay with quicker guards and the issues ball handlers face with his length. Off the ball, Okogie is a great dig guy and a good weak side shot-blocker with solid positional discipline and help instincts.

Weaknesses

Okogie’s mechanics are questionable. Although he shot well over two seasons, he has a slow release and a strange gather point in front of his face. Defenses will focus on this concern and he will have his threes blocked at a high clip if he can’t speed up his catch-and-shoot motion.

Okogie is a below average ball handler who struggles in traffic or facing significant ball pressure. He was able to create for himself at an impressive rate despite these deficiencies but he’ll need to improve his handle if he wants that to carry over to the NBA. Furthermore, he doesn’t have much ability in terms of countering defenders after he uses his first step to create space and doesn’t have a great feel for breaking down a defense.

Okogie is a poor finisher around the rim due in large part to a lack of vertical athleticism. His athleticism is more obvious in terms of his lateral quickness than his vertical leap, and he struggles with craft around the rim despite his length. He generally lacks composure in traffic and doesn’t have advanced touch near the basket, relying on his strength to score around the hoop.

Summary

Okogie has great physical tools and put up impressive production despite a poor offensive situation at Georgia Tech. He was a very good shooter despite poor release mechanics and flashed the ability to create for himself and others. He is a versatile wing defender with the quickness to guard point guards and is excellent at using his length as an on-ball defender. If he is able to tighten his handle and speed up his jump shot, he has a very high ceiling as a 3-and-D wing with some secondary creation upside. For now, he’ll be a guy who can spot up, attack closeouts and use his vision sparingly while giving great effort on defense and drawing fouls at a high rate.