Former Duke Star And 3rd Overall Pick Reportedly Has A New Team
Jahlil Okafor was once an up-and-coming NBA prospect.
ESPN ranked him as the top recruit in the class of 2014 (ahead of future All-Stars such as Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker and D'Angelo Russell), and in his one season at Duke, he led the Blue Devils to the National Championship.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected him with the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, and he averaged 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per contest in 53 games as a rookie.
However, he would play less than three seasons with the 76ers before they traded him to the Brooklyn Nets.
Currently, he is 26 years old but is not in the NBA.
On Thursday, NBA reporter Marc Stein reported that the Mexico City Capitanes had acquired the rights to Okafor.
Stein: "Mexico City will be a full home-and-away participant in the @nbagleague this season and has obtained the rights to former No. 3 overall pick Jahlil Okafor and veteran NBA forward Gary Clark, league sources say."
Okafor most recently played in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons in 2021, averaging 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per contest in 27 games.
In addition to the Pistons, Nets and 76ers, he has also played for the New Orleans Pelicans.
He has played six seasons in the NBA, and his career averages are 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest in 247 regular season games (he's never made the NBA Playoffs).
It will be interesting to see if another team gives him a chance.
