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Perhaps. But you know he'll have a difficult time playing center in the NBA. His value comes from his shotblocking abilities. At 6'9" he's not going to be nearly as effective a shotblocker in the NBA as he is in college. In fact, he's going to have a tough time playing center, period. He's going to be forced to play the four most of the time. I like him a lot. I think he's probably the best of this year's class. But the fact that a 6'9" shotblocker with little offensive skills is considered to be the best of the class tells you something. Do you really think he'd be a top five pick last year? I have serious doubts. And let's say you're the team with the #1 pick this year. Can you really get excited about Okafor? You don't usually want "solid" guys with your #1. You want superstars, franchise cornerstones.
Okafor is never going to be mistaken for Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Allen Iverson, or Yao Ming. He's going to be a nice complementary player. He could end up being someone like Theo Ratliff or Etan Thomas. I'd compare him to Ben Wallace, but I don't think he has the rebounding tenacity.
If I'm picking a center with my #1 pick. I want him to be Olijuwan, Robinson, Yao, Duncan. I want him to be at least seven feet tall. I don't want Theo Ratliff, Etan Thomas, or Adonal Foyle.
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ESPN.com has him listed at 6'10. I guess we won't know for sure until he starts going around for workouts. At 6'10 I don't think he'll have much trouble playing center. Most teams in the league don't play true centers and nearly all of those true centers aren't very good. Of course he won't average 5 blocks per game in the league, but I see no reason why he can't average 2 or 3. Shot blocking is about instinct and either you have it or you don't. He has it. So did Alonzo Morning, another undersized center. As far as rebounding tenacity, he's averaging over 11 per game for the 2nd straight year.
I don't want Etan Thomas, Foyle or Ratliff with the 3rd pick either. None of those guys were as good as Okafor in college. I saw him in S.A. last year in the South regional and have watched him various times on T.V. He changes games on both ends of the floor. Take the N.C. game this weekend: 29 points, 13 boards and 6 blocks while holding Shawn May to 8 points on 3-shooting. That's what I call owned.
Now, is he Tim Duncan or Dream? Probably not, but those players are rare. You don't always get those players with top 5 picks. Sometimes you get Raef Lafrentz or Michael Olawakandi. I'm pretty sure he's neither one of them. Think Elton Brand. Not a superstar by any means, but a really solid big man.
…and I have to think that if given a choice, Miami would have taken Okafor over Dwayne Wade. Especially since they were already overloaded with 2/3's and all they have down low is a fast aging Brian Grant.