Pistons land upgraded Jaden Ivey replacement without the familiar flaws

The Detroit Pistons were aggressive in last night’s draft, moving up four spots to take a prolific scoring guard in Ebuka Okorie. 

The Pistons had to make bold moves to get their preferred pick, as there were rumblings that he wasn’t going to make it past Toronto with the 19th pick. 

The Pistons had already moved up via the Jaden Ivey trade when they got a pick swap from the Timberwolves in the deal, but had to use three second-round picks to move up again to select Okorie. This pick not only puts an end stamp on the Ivey trade but gets the Pistons Ivey’s replacement. 

They did it in a roundabout way, but they ended up with a player with similar qualities to Ivey but without the familiar flaws. 

Ebuka Okorie is like Jaden Ivey but better 

Ebuka Okorie and Jaden Ivey are certainly not the same player, but they do have some similarities as both were extremely quick score-first guards coming out of college. 

Both are players who love to get downhill and can get to the rim at will, but that's really where the similarities end. 

Okorie is a far more prolific scorer, averaging over 23 points per game as a freshman and having some monster games for Stanford. Ivey only averaged 17 ppg as a sophomore, so Okorie comes into the league as the better scorer.  

And while Ivey may have been good at blowing by defenders, he wasn’t able to do much with it once he did, while Okorie already has a more advanced floater and mid-range game and is a better finisher around the rim. 

Okorie also gets to the free-throw line at a high rate, which should be a weapon for him at the next level. This was also a strength of Ivey in college, who got to the line 5.8 times per game in his final season and hit 74 percent of them. 

Compare that to Okorie, who was at the line a staggering 7.3 times per game last season and knocked down 83 percent. 

Okorie is also a better defender than Ivey was out of college and has already shown some on the ball chops with his length. 

Perhaps the most important distinction is that Okorie takes care of the ball far better than Ivey did. Ivey had a 28 percent usage rating in his final year in college with a turnover rate of just under 15 percent. 

Okorie handled the ball more, with a usage rating of 31 percent, but had an outstanding turnover rate of just 8.7 percent, so he takes care of the rock, which is trait the Pistons were definitely looking for this summer. 

It wasn't a direct route, but the Pistons eventually got the guy they were hoping they drafted in Jaden Ivey, as Okorie is an efficient scorer who can create his own shot and take care of the ball. 

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