NEW ORLEANS — Jahlil Okafor to the Bulls?
“I grew up being a Chicago Bulls fan, so that wouldn’t be bad at all,” said Okafor, the former Whitney Young star in his second season with the 76ers. “It’s my home city. I’m sure my family would love for me to be in the city. But they know that everything is just rumors. We don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The Bulls reportedly have been hear the top of the list of suitors for the 6-11, 275-pound Okafor — deemed expendable with the emergence of 7-0 Joel Embiid and 6-10 Dario Saric. The Sixers were so close to a deal last week they did not play Okafor against the Heat and Hornets before joining the team late in Boston on Wednesday. Okafor scored four points on 2-of-5 shooting in 17 minutes.
Okafor, who won a state championship at Young in 2014 and an NCAA title at Duke in 2015, was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2015 draft. He averaged 17.5 points and seven rebounds as a rookie. But his role has diminished this season — he is averaging 11.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 23.0 minutes. His insufficient defense and lack of versatility as primarily an inside scorer have impacted his NBA value.
Okafor was selected to play in the NBA’s “Rising Stars” game — featuring first- and second-year players — at All-Star weekend. He scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting with two rebounds in 14:34 for the USA team, which lost 150-141 to Jamal Murray (36 points, 9-of-14 three-pointers) and the World team.
Kaminsky a ‘Rising Star’
Former Benet and Wisconsin star Frank Kaminsky poured in 33 points on 12-of-16 shooting (9-of-13 three-pointers) for the USA team in the Rising Stars game. The 7-0, 240-pound Kaminsky, is averaging 10.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 25 minutes a game for the Charlotte Hornets this season. He averaged 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds in 21.1 minutes last season. He said his attention-to-detail is the difference.
“Last year I was trying to learn so much in a short amount of time that I got myself overworked and overthought things,” Kaminsky said. “I wasn’t ready for certain situations in certain games. I don’t feel like that’s been the case this year. I’ve gotten myself more prepared and I’m more comfortable out there.”
Bartman-ed
Kaminsky, a White Sox fan, taunted Cubs fans by wearing a “Bartman” Cubs jersey when the Hornets arrived at the United Center in October for a preseason game with the Bulls. The Cubs, who were playing the Dodgers in the NLCS, ended up winning the World Series, and Kaminsky took plenty of heat for it.
“Yeah, but I can handle it,” he said. “I started the fire. If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen.”
Nader an all-star
Former Niles North star Abdel Nader will play in the D-League All-Star Game on Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center. Nader, the Celtics’ second-round pick (58th overall) in the 2016 draft, is averaging 22.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and four assists per game for the Maine Red Claws.
