Atlanta Hawks: Early NBA comparisons for Onyeka Okongwu

Atlanta Hawks rookie Onyeka Okongwu comparison No. 1) Scoring

While 3.4 points per game is certainly not a number to write home about, his per-36 numbers have him scoring at 11.0 points per game. This is certainly solid for a rookie backup center who is playing behind Clint Capela who has been putting up historic numbers this season.

In his first season in the NBA, Steven Adams scored 8.0 points per game per-36. While he is not a scoring machine now, he is considered one of the better centers in the NBA for rebounding and screen-setting, both skills Okongwu can work on this season.

Other notable players who have lower points per game averages than Okongwu per-36 are Rudy Gobert (8.5), Pascal Siakam (9.6), Giannis Antetokounmpo (10.0), and DeAndre Jordan (10.6). This is a fairly impressive list of names to have a better scoring number comparing rookie seasons.

Other notable players who average slightly better per-36 numbers in their rookie season are Robin Lopez (11.1), Al Horford (11.6), Derrick Favors (12.5), and Bam Adebayo (12.6). Even Capela, who is considered one of the better centers in the league right now only had a per-36 scoring average of 12.8 per-36 in his rookie season. Okongwu is in some pretty good company.