NBA Draft: What do the scouting reports say about Josh Okogie?

After the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Georgia Tech guard Josh Okogie with the 20th pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, we want back and found a number of scouting reports on the newest Wolf.

The Minnesota Timberwolves improved their roster on Thursday night, adding Georgia Tech’s Josh Okogie in the first round of the NBA Draft and Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop in the second.

We passed along our rapid thoughts on both picks in real-time; be sure to check out the write-ups in their entirety, but I’d also like to put a couple of key observations here before getting into what other sites said about Okogie prior to the draft. A post on Bates-Diop will be coming soon.

Okogie was selected at pick No. 20. Here was our reaction, including the below excerpt:

"Okogie, who played two years at Georgia Tech, is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard with a massive 7-foot wingspan. He should be able to step in and be a solid defender immediately, with the perfect combination of size, length, and toughness to compete in Tom Thibodeau’s defensive scheme from Day One.Offensively, the narrative is that Okogie is raw, and while there were clearly some ball-handling and shot selection issues at the college level, it’s worth noting that there wasn’t a whole lot of talent around Okogie with the Yellow Jackets. He shot 38.4 percent on 3-point attempts as a freshman and 38 percent last year, so there’s certainly consistency there.He’s also a 77.7 percent career free throw shooter with a free throw rate of .539 over his two-year college career, showing his natural shooting touch and an ability to get to the rim."

In other words, toughness, length, athletic ability, and good-enough shooting touch and feel around the rim are the obvious positives. Let’s see what others are saying.

The Ringer did a great job with extensive profiles on all of the top draft prospects. A direct link to Okogie’s write-up is here, and here are a few of the pluses and minuses that I’ve cherry-picked from the column:

"PLUSESHas the versatility to switch onto multiple positions given his excellent length, muscular frame, and great agility.Strong help defender who hustles, stays engaged, invades passing lanes, and blocks shots from the weak side.Intelligent off-ball cutter; he’ll be at his best in a non-feature role.MINUSESNeeds to get better at finishing tough below-the-rim layups; he drew a lot of fouls in college, but may not get the benefit of the whistle in the NBA.Lacks an advanced handle and doesn’t change directions with the agility necessary to run pick-and-roll at a high level."

There are more great notes at the above link, including current NBA comps for Okogie, as well as some of the measurables and college stats.

From FanSided’s own Hoops Habit, there is a great analysis piece from Chris Murch that was posted just earlier this week.

Murch focuses on Okogie’s ability to step-up in big moments and against tough competition; while he averaged 18.2 points per game last year, that number grew to 22 points per game in ACC play. Athleticism, defensive IQ, and an ability to get to the free throw line are other strengths that he touches on.

Jeremy Woo at Sports Illustrated compares Okogie to Arron Afflalo, noting his thick but athletic frame and solid all-around game despite not excelling in any one specific area.

SB Nation’s Peachtree Hoops has a great write-up on Okogie’s career at Georgia Tech, including this encouraging note:

"Okogie was a tremendous shooter in catch-and-shoot situations in 2016-17, scoring in the 92nd percentile in Division I on points per possession on catch-and-shoot jumpers. With his feet set and a bit of room, he’s already a knockdown shooter, though how well that translates to the NBA level remains to be seen."

The Okogie highlights are fun to watch. He’s an energetic, high-flying player that always seems to give maximum effort. Watching him work his way into the rotation this fall should be a lot of fun.

Next: Josh Okogie is eerily similar to Jimmy Butler

That’ll do it for now. Stay tuned for a similar rundown of Keita Bates-Diop scouting reports.