Josh Okogie, the 6-foot 4-inch guard out of Georgia Tech, enters his eighth NBA season with now his fourth team, the Houston Rockets. Say what you will, to be in the league for eight seasons is nothing
to shake a stick at. Since being drafted number 20 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, he has made a name for himself as a tenacious and versatile defender. Rockets fans may remember this sequence from a couple of years ago.
Okogie has the athleticism to guard just about anyone on the perimeter, which will be a welcome sight for a team that has lost two of its better perimeter defenders in Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green. Not to mention, Fred VanVleet’s missing for the season, and although his size at times put him at a disadvantage, he never lacked in defensive effort. That being said, Okogie is fairly low on the depth chart, but he may see some run. Especially since KD is not likely to play 82 games, or anything close to it.
Okogie averaged over a steal per game last season for the Phoenix Suns and the Charlotte Hornets, in 15 minutes per game he averages 7.1 points and 2.8 rebounds. For a “Three-and-D” guy, you’d like for his “three” to be a little bit better. He shoots 29.9 percent for his career; however, he did shoot a career-high 35.5 percent from the arc last season. Having experience playing with Kevin Durant may well be why he’s here in the first place, and that’s okay with me. As long as he can stay healthy and be a contributing factor as a new member of the “Stay Ready Crew”, I love the pick-up.
Josh Okogie is the kind of player all teams need. Plays hard, does the dirty work, doesn’t complain. Just shows up to work with his lunch pale and does his job. He seems to be just the kind of guy Rockets head coach, Ime Udoka loves. Statistically, and with the effort he brings to the court, he is very similar to another member of the stay ready crew, who I will also be previewing, right here on TDS! Let’s see if the Dream Shakers can guess. Stay blessed and… GO ROCKETS!
