Kezie (KZ) Okpala
Strengths:
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Weaknesses & Concerns:
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Key Stats:
via: synergysportstech.com
Statistical Projections:
via Model284.com
Videos:
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Detailed Scouting Report:
Profile:
Age: 20 years old (born 28-APR-1999)
Birthplace: Anaheim, California
Current Agent: Aaron Mintz
College: Stanford University
High School: Esperanza High School (Anaheim, California)
AAU: So Cal All-Stars
High School Recruiting Class Info: 27th (Scout), 30th (Rivals) and 42nd (ESPN)
Other Notes:
Birthplace: Anaheim, California
Current Agent: Aaron Mintz
College: Stanford University
High School: Esperanza High School (Anaheim, California)
AAU: So Cal All-Stars
High School Recruiting Class Info: 27th (Scout), 30th (Rivals) and 42nd (ESPN)
Other Notes:
- Set Esperanza High School’s single-season record for scoring average
- Established a high school single-game record of 46 points
- Led high school to conference title as a junior
Anthrometric Data:Height: 6’7.25” (w/o shoes) 6’9.5” (w/shoes)
Weight: 209.6 lbs Wingspan: 7’1.175” Standing Reach: 8’10.5” Body Fat%: 4.6% Hand Size: 9.25” (length) 9.25” (width) |
Athletic Testing Data:Lane Agility: 10.88 secs
Shuttle Run: 3.13 secs 3/4 Court Sprint: 3.38 secs Standing Vertical Jump: 30.5” Max Vertical Jump: 37.0" |
Anthrometric & Athletic Testing Comparisons:
Size Comparisons:
Noah Vonleh (6’9.5” w/shoes, 7’4.25” wingspan), Pascal Siakam (6’9.5” w/shoes, 7’3.25” wingspan), Kyle Kuzma (6’9.5” w/shoes, 7’0.25” wingspan), Kevin Knox (6’9” w/shoes, 6’11.75” wingspan), Maurice Harkless (6’8.75” w/shoes, 7’ wingspan, 206.6 lbs)
Agility/Speed Comparisons:
Solomon Hill (10.77 lane agility, 2.91 shuttle, 3.19 ¾ sprint), Kyle Kuzma (10.72 lane agility, 2.98 shuttle, 3.25 ¾ court), Shabazz Muhammad (10.99 lane agility, 2.93 shuttle, 3.32 ¾ court), Maurice Harkless (10.87 lane agility, 3.25 ¾ court)
Vertical Jump Comparisons:
Allen Crabbe (30.5” standing vert, 36” max vert), Noah Vonleh (31” standing vert, 37” max vert), Rodney Hood (29” standing vert, 36” max vert), Pascal Siakam (30.5” standing vert, 36.5” max vert), Patrick McCaw (30” standing vert, 38” max vert)
Overall Comparisons:
Quincy Miller (97.8%), Chase Budinger (97%) and James Ennis (96.9%)
(thanks to NBAthlete.com)
Noah Vonleh (6’9.5” w/shoes, 7’4.25” wingspan), Pascal Siakam (6’9.5” w/shoes, 7’3.25” wingspan), Kyle Kuzma (6’9.5” w/shoes, 7’0.25” wingspan), Kevin Knox (6’9” w/shoes, 6’11.75” wingspan), Maurice Harkless (6’8.75” w/shoes, 7’ wingspan, 206.6 lbs)
Agility/Speed Comparisons:
Solomon Hill (10.77 lane agility, 2.91 shuttle, 3.19 ¾ sprint), Kyle Kuzma (10.72 lane agility, 2.98 shuttle, 3.25 ¾ court), Shabazz Muhammad (10.99 lane agility, 2.93 shuttle, 3.32 ¾ court), Maurice Harkless (10.87 lane agility, 3.25 ¾ court)
Vertical Jump Comparisons:
Allen Crabbe (30.5” standing vert, 36” max vert), Noah Vonleh (31” standing vert, 37” max vert), Rodney Hood (29” standing vert, 36” max vert), Pascal Siakam (30.5” standing vert, 36.5” max vert), Patrick McCaw (30” standing vert, 38” max vert)
Overall Comparisons:
Quincy Miller (97.8%), Chase Budinger (97%) and James Ennis (96.9%)
(thanks to NBAthlete.com)
Strengths:
Physical Tools
Tremendous height and length for a modern NBA forward. Although his strength is a concern (more on this later), he has all the foundational athrometric tools you’d want to work with in a young NBA wing prospect. And those are things you just can’t teach or develop.
Athleticism
Although it doesn’t always show up on the court (more on this later), KZ is a very good athlete, especially for his size. He has the ability to move well laterally on both ends of the floor, showing impressive change of direction and speed at times. He's shown an impressively balanced and quick spin move that he loves to use when he gets into the paint, which is a good example of his overall athleticism. His speed and quickness also show up when he's attacking close-outs off the dribble; sometimes even putting the defender on their back-side with his surprisingly quick first step. KZ's short area quickness for his size is something you just don’t see very often. That, combined with his length, height and vertical jumping ability, makes him an impressively well rounded athlete that certainly reaches the athletic thresholds you want in a young NBA wing prospect. Another indicator of his athletic ability is the volume of transition scoring opportunities he had this past season, which composed 16.3% of his total scoring opportunities with an impressive volume of 87 possessions.
Positional Ball Handling
KZ is a fairly advanced ball handler for someone his size. He’s shown great ability to attack close-outs off the dribble, and has shown an above average ability to score as the ball handler in pick and roll situations (0.896 PPP - 79th percentile - as the pick & roll ball handler – 67 possessions this past season). Although, he didn’t show much ability to score in isolation situations in college (just 48 total isolation possessions this past season and only scored 0.75 PPP – 44th percentile), he’s got a nice fundamental base to work with moving forward. He’ll need to develop more advanced ball handling moves, such as crossovers, etc. but there’s a lot there to like, especially for his size and projected position. His ability to draw fouls as a pick and roll ball handler (22.4% FT%) is also impressive.
Ability to get to the Rim
One of the biggest things I look for in NBA prospects is their ability to get to the rim at the collegiate level, and KZ has certainly shown that he can do that. This past season, he was able to take 153 shots at the rim (scoring 1.092 PPP on those shots – 45th percentile), which is well above the volume threshold you’d like to see from a wing prospect. As mentioned before, his combination of ball handling and a surprisingly quick first step enables him to put a lot of pressure on the rim, especially in advantage situations (situations in which he’s attacking a disadvantaged defense/defender. Ex: attacking a defender when the defender is still rotating or performing a hard closeout). And although he needs to improve on his ability to finish at the rim (again, just in the 43rd percentile in his ability to finish at the rim), his ability to get there is more important at this stage of his development than his ability to score efficiently once he’s there.
Natural Touch & Craftiness
One of the most intriguing aspects of KZ is his natural touch and craftiness. He's a finesse player that has an array of craft finishes around the basket. He's very good at scoring around opposing defenders and has a really advanced floater game that's uncommon for someone his size and age. Last season, he scored 0.796 PPP on runners/floaters (57th percentile) on an impressive 54 attempts. And although he's not a good shooter off the dribble or in the mid-range, his runner/floater game gives him a weapon in the mid-range that adds to his scoring upside in the NBA.
Shooting Potential
There’s reason to be concerned about KZ’s shooting (more on this later) but there’s also reason to believe that he can continue to improve his shooting ability. One of the strongest indicators of his shooting upside is his ability to hit unguarded spot-up jumpers (which is usually a better predicator of shooting ability than other stats outside of FT%). This past season, KZ shot 25 unguarded spot-up jumpers, scoring 1.32 PPP on those attempts (75th percentile). Additionally, his overall spot-up shooting (listed as catch & shoot) this past season was fairly good, which ranked in the 82nd percentile (1.2 PPP, 55 total possessions). He was also a capable 3-point shooter in college, scoring 1.052 PPP on 3-point shots. (61st percentile, 77 total possessions, 37% on 3 3PA’s per game)
Defensive Versatility
KZ has a lot of defensive upside and versatility when considering his overall athletic ability, size and length. And although he only averaged 1 steal and 0.5 blocks per game in college, all the necessary foundational tools to be an elite defender in the NBA are there for him to build on. He may never be able to lockdown 1's or even quicker 2's in the league, he has the potential to develop into a capable switch defender, which is a premium in the league right now.
Upside (age)
As listed above, KZ is only barely 20 years old. He's still very young in his development cycle and has a lot of potential left in the tank. His statistical profile is impressively diverse for a player of his age, which is something you want to see in young NBA wing prospects. If he can land with the right team and continue to build on his already impressive skill-set, he's got a chance to become a very good player in the NBA.
Weaknesses & Concerns:
Strength
Although strength is a bit overrated in today's game, especially for non-bigs, it's still an important aspect of a players foundational profile. Just go watch the physicality of the playoffs and you'll see why a players strength is still important in todays NBA. And this is one area where KZ is lacking. He only weighed in at 209.6 pounds at the NBA draft combine, and that lack of size/strength shows up in his play style. He's very much a finesse player, not a power player, relying on crafty finishes around the basket rather than powerful finishes through contact. He's also particularly susceptible to being overpowered in the post by bigs. And although the post-up game is a dying art in todays NBA, it's still something teams can use in advantage situations against weaker wings like KZ. He'll need to continue to add weight to his frame and learn how to play with more power on both ends of the floor if he wants to maximize his NBA potential. His difficulties in scoring efficiently at the rim in college (1.092 PPP, 45th percentile) are largely due to his lack of aggressiveness and strength when attacking the rim. And despite possessing fairly good ball handling and quickness for a wing, his struggles to create his own shot and score in isolation are largely due to his inability to bully his way past or around defenders when they're able to stay in front of him.
Functional Vertical Explosiveness
Somewhat related to his lack of strength, KZ isn't an overly vertical explosive player despite fairly well in both vertical jump tests at the combine. He rarely finishes over the top of defenders, again relying more on crafty finishes. And when he does go for vertical finishes, he's not explosive in doing so. Watch a few of his in-game dunks with defenders near him and you'll notice that he's using his length and quickness to get to the rim quickly rather than explosively jumping over the top of the defender contests. This isn't a huge problem for him at the collegiate level (for the most part) but it will become more a problem at the NBA level when he's facing bigger, stronger, longer and quicker defenders.
Shooting?
KZ is a good but not great shooter who has some shot mechanics that need improving. His release is a bit low and his set point is back a little further than you'd like it to be. It's also more of a set shot than a shot that's capable of being used effectively off the dribble. This shows up in his shooting numbers, as he's a pretty good catch & shoot/spot-up shooter (82nd percentile) but he really struggles to make shots off the dribble (0.657 PPP, 35 possessions, 30th percentile). He'll likely need to work on changing his mechanics a bit if he wants to become a high level scoring threat that's capable of scoring at all 3 levels (3-point, mid-range and at the rim) in the NBA. His low FT% is also extremely concerning, as FT% is actually the best indicator of future shooting potential and success (this is true of every position). He's a career 67% free-throw shooter and only managed to shoot 67% this past season. With shooting being such a high premium in the league these days, especially from the wing position, the questions about his shooting potential may scare some teams away.
Rim Finishing?
As mentioned previously, KZ is capable at getting to the rim, but finishing there at a high level is still something he needs to work on. This past season, he only scored 1.092 PPP on shots at the rim (45th percentile). This should improve as he learns how to finish stronger and with more explosiveness, but it's still an area of his game that's lacking. Although, his ability to finish with finesse and touch around the rim is a positive sign for him moving forward.
Isolation scorer?
KZ isn't someone that you can rely on to score in isolation situations. This past season, he only had 48 isolation scoring possessions and struggled to score in those attempts (0.75 PPP, 44th percentile). The low volume is more concerning than the efficiency, as lower volumes typically means the player just isn't capable or comfortable doing it. That being said, 48 attempts isn't THAT bad, especially for a wing player, but you'd like to see that number be north of 60 (for a wing) if you want to point to that being something in his game that can be built upon. He's likely not going to ever be an elite or even average isolation scorer in the NBA, especially with his lack of ability to shoot off the dribble, but it's something that could come around in time as he continues to develop.
Passing?
Even though he's a capable pick and roll ball handler, KZ isn't much of a passer. He's only averaged 2.0 assists for his collegiate career (and 2.7 TO's) and hasn't shown a great ability to hit open perimeter shooters or the roll man when running the pick and roll. This will limit his overall effectiveness when you put the ball in his hands, and it's something that he's going to need to improve upon if he wants to reach his full potential. This is especially so considering his lack of his shooting off the dribble and over-reliance on getting to the rim. If teams drop the big against him in the pick & roll, he'll need to find ways to get the ball back to the rolling (or popping) big in the window that the dropping defense allows for.
Projected NBA Role:
Position: Forward
Offensive Role: Versatile Wing, Secondary or Tertiary Ball Handler
Defensive Role: Versatile Perimeter Defender
Physical Tools
Tremendous height and length for a modern NBA forward. Although his strength is a concern (more on this later), he has all the foundational athrometric tools you’d want to work with in a young NBA wing prospect. And those are things you just can’t teach or develop.
Athleticism
Although it doesn’t always show up on the court (more on this later), KZ is a very good athlete, especially for his size. He has the ability to move well laterally on both ends of the floor, showing impressive change of direction and speed at times. He's shown an impressively balanced and quick spin move that he loves to use when he gets into the paint, which is a good example of his overall athleticism. His speed and quickness also show up when he's attacking close-outs off the dribble; sometimes even putting the defender on their back-side with his surprisingly quick first step. KZ's short area quickness for his size is something you just don’t see very often. That, combined with his length, height and vertical jumping ability, makes him an impressively well rounded athlete that certainly reaches the athletic thresholds you want in a young NBA wing prospect. Another indicator of his athletic ability is the volume of transition scoring opportunities he had this past season, which composed 16.3% of his total scoring opportunities with an impressive volume of 87 possessions.
Positional Ball Handling
KZ is a fairly advanced ball handler for someone his size. He’s shown great ability to attack close-outs off the dribble, and has shown an above average ability to score as the ball handler in pick and roll situations (0.896 PPP - 79th percentile - as the pick & roll ball handler – 67 possessions this past season). Although, he didn’t show much ability to score in isolation situations in college (just 48 total isolation possessions this past season and only scored 0.75 PPP – 44th percentile), he’s got a nice fundamental base to work with moving forward. He’ll need to develop more advanced ball handling moves, such as crossovers, etc. but there’s a lot there to like, especially for his size and projected position. His ability to draw fouls as a pick and roll ball handler (22.4% FT%) is also impressive.
Ability to get to the Rim
One of the biggest things I look for in NBA prospects is their ability to get to the rim at the collegiate level, and KZ has certainly shown that he can do that. This past season, he was able to take 153 shots at the rim (scoring 1.092 PPP on those shots – 45th percentile), which is well above the volume threshold you’d like to see from a wing prospect. As mentioned before, his combination of ball handling and a surprisingly quick first step enables him to put a lot of pressure on the rim, especially in advantage situations (situations in which he’s attacking a disadvantaged defense/defender. Ex: attacking a defender when the defender is still rotating or performing a hard closeout). And although he needs to improve on his ability to finish at the rim (again, just in the 43rd percentile in his ability to finish at the rim), his ability to get there is more important at this stage of his development than his ability to score efficiently once he’s there.
Natural Touch & Craftiness
One of the most intriguing aspects of KZ is his natural touch and craftiness. He's a finesse player that has an array of craft finishes around the basket. He's very good at scoring around opposing defenders and has a really advanced floater game that's uncommon for someone his size and age. Last season, he scored 0.796 PPP on runners/floaters (57th percentile) on an impressive 54 attempts. And although he's not a good shooter off the dribble or in the mid-range, his runner/floater game gives him a weapon in the mid-range that adds to his scoring upside in the NBA.
Shooting Potential
There’s reason to be concerned about KZ’s shooting (more on this later) but there’s also reason to believe that he can continue to improve his shooting ability. One of the strongest indicators of his shooting upside is his ability to hit unguarded spot-up jumpers (which is usually a better predicator of shooting ability than other stats outside of FT%). This past season, KZ shot 25 unguarded spot-up jumpers, scoring 1.32 PPP on those attempts (75th percentile). Additionally, his overall spot-up shooting (listed as catch & shoot) this past season was fairly good, which ranked in the 82nd percentile (1.2 PPP, 55 total possessions). He was also a capable 3-point shooter in college, scoring 1.052 PPP on 3-point shots. (61st percentile, 77 total possessions, 37% on 3 3PA’s per game)
Defensive Versatility
KZ has a lot of defensive upside and versatility when considering his overall athletic ability, size and length. And although he only averaged 1 steal and 0.5 blocks per game in college, all the necessary foundational tools to be an elite defender in the NBA are there for him to build on. He may never be able to lockdown 1's or even quicker 2's in the league, he has the potential to develop into a capable switch defender, which is a premium in the league right now.
Upside (age)
As listed above, KZ is only barely 20 years old. He's still very young in his development cycle and has a lot of potential left in the tank. His statistical profile is impressively diverse for a player of his age, which is something you want to see in young NBA wing prospects. If he can land with the right team and continue to build on his already impressive skill-set, he's got a chance to become a very good player in the NBA.
Weaknesses & Concerns:
Strength
Although strength is a bit overrated in today's game, especially for non-bigs, it's still an important aspect of a players foundational profile. Just go watch the physicality of the playoffs and you'll see why a players strength is still important in todays NBA. And this is one area where KZ is lacking. He only weighed in at 209.6 pounds at the NBA draft combine, and that lack of size/strength shows up in his play style. He's very much a finesse player, not a power player, relying on crafty finishes around the basket rather than powerful finishes through contact. He's also particularly susceptible to being overpowered in the post by bigs. And although the post-up game is a dying art in todays NBA, it's still something teams can use in advantage situations against weaker wings like KZ. He'll need to continue to add weight to his frame and learn how to play with more power on both ends of the floor if he wants to maximize his NBA potential. His difficulties in scoring efficiently at the rim in college (1.092 PPP, 45th percentile) are largely due to his lack of aggressiveness and strength when attacking the rim. And despite possessing fairly good ball handling and quickness for a wing, his struggles to create his own shot and score in isolation are largely due to his inability to bully his way past or around defenders when they're able to stay in front of him.
Functional Vertical Explosiveness
Somewhat related to his lack of strength, KZ isn't an overly vertical explosive player despite fairly well in both vertical jump tests at the combine. He rarely finishes over the top of defenders, again relying more on crafty finishes. And when he does go for vertical finishes, he's not explosive in doing so. Watch a few of his in-game dunks with defenders near him and you'll notice that he's using his length and quickness to get to the rim quickly rather than explosively jumping over the top of the defender contests. This isn't a huge problem for him at the collegiate level (for the most part) but it will become more a problem at the NBA level when he's facing bigger, stronger, longer and quicker defenders.
Shooting?
KZ is a good but not great shooter who has some shot mechanics that need improving. His release is a bit low and his set point is back a little further than you'd like it to be. It's also more of a set shot than a shot that's capable of being used effectively off the dribble. This shows up in his shooting numbers, as he's a pretty good catch & shoot/spot-up shooter (82nd percentile) but he really struggles to make shots off the dribble (0.657 PPP, 35 possessions, 30th percentile). He'll likely need to work on changing his mechanics a bit if he wants to become a high level scoring threat that's capable of scoring at all 3 levels (3-point, mid-range and at the rim) in the NBA. His low FT% is also extremely concerning, as FT% is actually the best indicator of future shooting potential and success (this is true of every position). He's a career 67% free-throw shooter and only managed to shoot 67% this past season. With shooting being such a high premium in the league these days, especially from the wing position, the questions about his shooting potential may scare some teams away.
Rim Finishing?
As mentioned previously, KZ is capable at getting to the rim, but finishing there at a high level is still something he needs to work on. This past season, he only scored 1.092 PPP on shots at the rim (45th percentile). This should improve as he learns how to finish stronger and with more explosiveness, but it's still an area of his game that's lacking. Although, his ability to finish with finesse and touch around the rim is a positive sign for him moving forward.
Isolation scorer?
KZ isn't someone that you can rely on to score in isolation situations. This past season, he only had 48 isolation scoring possessions and struggled to score in those attempts (0.75 PPP, 44th percentile). The low volume is more concerning than the efficiency, as lower volumes typically means the player just isn't capable or comfortable doing it. That being said, 48 attempts isn't THAT bad, especially for a wing player, but you'd like to see that number be north of 60 (for a wing) if you want to point to that being something in his game that can be built upon. He's likely not going to ever be an elite or even average isolation scorer in the NBA, especially with his lack of ability to shoot off the dribble, but it's something that could come around in time as he continues to develop.
Passing?
Even though he's a capable pick and roll ball handler, KZ isn't much of a passer. He's only averaged 2.0 assists for his collegiate career (and 2.7 TO's) and hasn't shown a great ability to hit open perimeter shooters or the roll man when running the pick and roll. This will limit his overall effectiveness when you put the ball in his hands, and it's something that he's going to need to improve upon if he wants to reach his full potential. This is especially so considering his lack of his shooting off the dribble and over-reliance on getting to the rim. If teams drop the big against him in the pick & roll, he'll need to find ways to get the ball back to the rolling (or popping) big in the window that the dropping defense allows for.
Projected NBA Role:
Position: Forward
Offensive Role: Versatile Wing, Secondary or Tertiary Ball Handler
Defensive Role: Versatile Perimeter Defender
Projected Draft Range:
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ESPN:
ESPN Big Board Rank: 24th ESPN Mock Draft Position: 29th (updated: 2-June-2019) Yahoo: Yahoo's Big Board Rank: 28th Yahoo's Mock Draft Position: 27th (updated: 2-June-2019) |
Aggregate:
High (Big Boards): 12th Average (Big Boards): 30.5 High (Mock Drafts): 19th Average (Mock Drafts): 35.71 Updated Aggregate Info: Link (thanks to @KantsImperative) |
