It’s that time of the week again, so we are back with another Detroit Pistons’ mailbag courtesy of the readers on Twitter.
In previous mailbags we have covered everything from the Rookie of the Year race to the Draft to free agency.
Today’s questions are a little more hypothetical in nature, dealing with “dream” scenarios and guys who might be risks worth taking in free agency.
But let’s start with a question about reality, specifically why a certain guy hasn’t been picked up by any other teams in the league.
Detroit Pistons mailbag: Reader questions from Twitter
Why do you think nobody has picked up KZ Okpala? Surely he is better than some of the bottom spots on many rosters? Is there something about him that is preventing him from being resigned? I just can’t figure it out.
— Johnny A. Hodge (@johnnyhodge) March 24, 2022
Like most second-round picks KZ Okpala hasn’t gotten much of a chance to show what he can do in the NBA.
I honestly don’t know much about the guy, but I can tell you that there are literally dozens of players who fit into the same category, which is “interesting, good enough for the G-League but still need more work.”
If you are going to be a second-round pick or go undrafted and make the NBA, you generally have to have at least one elite skill that plays in a rotation. If you can shoot like Duncan Robinson, or defend like Herb Jones, teams will overlook other weaknesses.
Okpala doesn’t have an obvious elite skill, so has been lumped in with all of the other 6-foot-9 athletes who can’t shoot, a group that is pretty big.
We’ve seen teams use the G-League more this season because of COVID, so it is somewhat surprising he didn’t get another chance with someone, but there are a lot of guys who fall into the category of “Tweener” in the purgatory between the G-League and the NBA.
He’ll get picked up by someone in Summer League and will have another chance, but teams want forwards who can shoot or defend at a high level, so until he can do one of those things, he could remain on the cusp.