Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 places Wolves rookies will help on defense

Toughness

The way in which Okogie absorbs contact against bigger opponents looks very similar to Jimmy Butler‘s ability to bump back on every single hit. But his intensity is a double-edged sword, as sometimes he overreacts when there’s no reason to do so.

Here, he’s coming off his man expecting a hand-off. He gets blown by on the drive, and then tries to get a charging foul inside the paint.

If we consider the Player Impact Plus-Minus metric — a metric created by Jacob Goldstein of Nylon Calculus — Okogie shines in terms of projection of future success as a good performer on this end of the court.

Defensively, this metric ranks him in the 86th percentile. That doesn’t say much about his transition to the NBA level, necessarily, but it’s still likely a more accurate tool than some of the old metrics such as box plus-minus.

Bates-Diop is bigger than Okogie, he measured 6’-8.5″ in shoes with a 7’-3.25″ wingspan and a lean 224-pound frame.

But even if he doesn’t have the same strength, he still had an impact at Ohio State protecting the rim and rebounding out of his area.

During summer league, he had some ups and downs facing bigs. It’s still not clear how he’s going to handle the weight gap that will typically kick-in against guys north of 275 pounds with quick feet.

Here, he forgets to box out, but then he shows great positioning, lateral slides and physicality to force two tough shots.

Both Tom Thibodeau and Jimmy Butler demand a certain brand of toughness from the players they go to battle with, and Okogie and Bates-Diop should both fit this mold.