Jahlil Okafor is losing out in the hype arms-race to Kristaps Porzingis and Karl-Anthony Towns. Hell, he’s losing ground to frickin’ Nikola Jokic at this point. One of the most hyped prospects in recent times, and he’s getting out-hyped by a skinny dude from Serbia, a skinnier dude from Latvia, and a guy with too many names? What’s the deal?
Here’s the deal: Jahlil doesn’t dunk it hard enough. He’s capable of some bigtime whamjams, as evidenced by 1:49, but often he just takes the ball in his big right hand and jams it as softly as he can, like at 0:57. These other bigman rookies (not Jokic, but the other two) are often seen jamming it with power and fury. That is why they are receiving the lion’s share of the hype.
All it would take for Jahlil to be ROY is to start dunking it the way his teammate Nerlens Noel does. That’s it. The stats are already there, he just needs the flash and the pomp to put him over the top.