Atlanta Hawks: Early NBA comparisons for Onyeka Okongwu

Atlanta Hawks rookie Onyeka Okongwu comparison No. 3) Rebounding

The rookie is going to need to improve his rebounding numbers if he is going to make a solid NBA career. Being only 6’8″ he is not going to be able to use any size advantage to get the rebound over his opponent.

As such, Okongwu is averaging 9.7 rebounds per game, per-36 which is the same as one of his draft comparisons, Derrick Favors. Only Siakam, Lopez, and Antetokounmpo have a worse per-36 rebounding average than Okongwu.

It is not that Okongwu is too far behind some of the others mentioned before. Adebayo, Adams, and Taj Gibson had a per-36 average of 10.0 rebounds per game. Horford and Jordan had a per-36 of 11.0 per game which is not too far ahead of Okongwu.

Drilling down deeper into these numbers, one of the areas Okongwu needs to improve is in offensive rebounding. Only Antetokounmpo (1.7) has a worse per-36 number than Okongwu (2.4). If he is going to have an impact as a center in the NBA, then he is going to need to improve in this metric.

However, that means that his defensive rebounding numbers are quite impressive. Only Capela, Jordan, Gobert, and Horford had higher numbers than Okongwu. This is some pretty impressive company to keep in today’s NBA.