The Detroit Pistons made aggressive moves in last night’s draft, climbing four positions to secure prolific scoring guard Ebuka Okorie.
They had to act decisively to land their targeted prospect, with growing speculation that Okorie wouldn’t remain available past Toronto at the 19th pick.
Detroit had already gained draft capital through the Jaden Ivey trade, acquiring a pick swap from Minnesota as part of that deal, but they still needed to part with three second-round selections to jump again and get Okorie.
That choice not only closes the book on the Ivey trade but also delivers the Pistons a direct on-court successor to Ivey.
It happened in a winding fashion, yet they wound up with a player who shares several of Ivey’s traits while sidestepping his recurring shortcomings.
Ebuka Okorie resembles Jaden Ivey, though with clear upgrades
Okorie and Ivey aren’t carbon copies, but they do share common ground both came out of college as exceptionally quick, score-oriented guards.
Each thrives at attacking the basket and reaching the rim almost at will, though that’s where the parallels largely end.
Okorie brings a much more potent scoring profile, having averaged over 23 points per game as a freshman and logging several enormous outings at Stanford. Ivey, by contrast, put up 17 points per game as a sophomore, so Okorie enters the pros as the more accomplished scorer.
And while Ivey could blow past defenders, he often struggled to capitalize once he got there, whereas Okorie already boasts a more polished floater and mid-range arsenal, along with superior finishing ability around the rim.
Okorie also draws fouls at an elite clip, which should serve him well in the NBA. That was a strength of Ivey’s in college too he went to the line 5.8 times per game in his final season and converted 74 percent.
Set that against Okorie, who got to the stripe a remarkable 7.3 times per game last year and knocked down 83 percent of those attempts.
Defensively, Okorie rates ahead of where Ivey was coming out of school, already displaying solid on-ball capability with his length.
Perhaps the most critical difference: Okorie protects the ball much more reliably than Ivey did. Ivey posted a 28 percent usage rate in his last college season alongside a turnover rate just under 15 percent.
Okorie handled even more responsibility, with a 31 percent usage rate, yet turned in an exceptional 8.7 percent turnover rate demonstrating the kind of ball security Detroit was clearly prioritizing this offseason.
It wasn’t a straight line, but the Pistons ultimately landed the player they had hoped Jaden Ivey would become Okorie, an efficient shot-creator who scores fluidly and rarely gives possessions away.
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