Felix Okpara Scouting Report
Toughness, resilience and a high-end defensive promise. The former Ohio State-standout was solid at Tennessee and is among centers one the favorites to land a NBA roster spot. Here's all you must know
#34 Felix Okpara, Tennessee: Senior, 6’11”
Center — Born: Apr 20, 2004 (22 years old)
Introduction
Felix Okpara has been one of the better centers in high-major basketball. His collection of being durable, toughness and verticality has been a gamechanger for him on the defensive end of the floor. He’s been one of the more underrated fives in the Big Ten in his underclassman days at Ohio State. Hereafter, he transferred to the SEC and earned All-Defense honors during his senior campaign.
At 6.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks over a four-year span, the numbers speak for itself. His role has always been to be a deterrant in the interior and improve the team’s defensive rating while he found his fair share of possibilities to add on offense through his play-finishing and creativity in the post. There’s a role for him in the NBA and this scouting report emphasizes his current skillset and what must change in the next few years to have a chance to stick and have a decade-plus career at the next level.
Physical Profile
At 6’11.5” in shoes, Okpara measured out great at Portsmouth Invitational. The strongly-built classic five has broad shoulders, a well-filled frame and a strong core. He has light feet and is a great athlete in terms of verticality, with a 29.5 inch vertical as an example.
Overall, at 234 pounds, long arms at a 7'2.5" wingspan, Okpara’s more than ready for the NBA in terms of his physicality. He’ll turn 23 in next season’s playoffs and is fairly young for his class, making it feasible he’ll continue to add mass to his frame and bulk up in the next few years.
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Defense
Pick-and-roll
Okpara slides his feet well and loves to go over screens and take on switches. He can stay in front of guards and wings using his length and light feet to move laterally while keeping up with the pace. However, his decision-making is not consistent and he struggles to plant his last step often. The first play has him move comfortably with a decent shot contest from the midrange. Despite the made shot, that’s a good play on his end as he kept angles closed. However, the second possession had Okpara defend with more space behind him and he immediately bit on the pump-fake while the shooter was not balanced, struggling to keep his own balance as a result. That must improve.
Regardless, the game has slowed down for Okpara in his four-year college tenure with the third play showing him timing his dive on the ball to perfection. Despite the heavy build, Okpara is mobile and moves well for his size, making him not rely on drop coverage by any means. As a result of how the Volunteers play, Okpara actively went over screens and teams could hedge ball screens with his activity on that end. However, the other side of the coin is that he’s very perimeter oriented. The fourth play has him give up space after the crossover whereafter Okpara didn’t rush back for the boxout and the shooter could simply follow his miss for the putback. He has to be in the paint more. Overall, the pick-and-roll defense will translate in the NBA.
Closeouts
He’s more patient in terms of closeouts and when teams try to score in the interior. The first play has him use his strong chest to not give up space in the post-up while sliding his feet properly to use his length and verticality to not give any angle at the scorer who simply had to settle for that fadeaway after facing Okpara’s resilience. But the second possession has Okpara’s focus on the perimeter work against him again. He’s not in the best position to apply pressure center court to where he must recognize when to drop and close out from the paint or interior. That’s where he’s making a big difference on defense. The third possession shows another example of his angle-limiting play in the post with the physicality and toughness speaking volumes.
However, the area for improvement is when he’s facing guards and wings slashing their way into the paint he’s becoming more reactive. That’s where his physicality is less commonly seen and he’s giving control to both scorers in the fourth and fifth plays below. Being more comfortable in stepping out the paint and forcing them to beat him off the dribble is the main area of attention for Okpara for the next few years.
Cuts and defending away from the ball
When defending away from the ball, the biting on pump-fakes worries me. He’s making the right decisions in terms of the angles he’s closing. Moving well, positioning making sense as well. Okpara’s a good decision-maker on that end and hardly ever commits too much with his help defense. All good signs that’ll have him serve well as a rim-deterrant in the NBA, reducing easy given up buckets in the paint and boosting a team’s defensive rating.
But then there are the fakes. Teams often put Okpara in pump-fakes because that’s been the scouting report on him in college. The first play below extends to his time at PIT. Okpara’s already in the air while the play-finisher has his feet on the ground and still bent his knees. That’s simply jumping out of reaction, but making a read. Okpara must improve this. The other plays show how good it can look when he’s making better decisions.
But in terms of the 50-50 decisions, Okpara’s lack of composure is telling. The last possession below has him facing the collapsed defense while he’s tagging his play-finisher to where he still had to gamble for stopping the dropoff pass. Overall, that’s not on him but the lack of composure did give me a reason to believe it’s feasible that he’ll improve on that end in the next few years when he’s playing more calmly.
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Offense
Advantage-creation out of post-ups
At 70.0% rim-finishing excluding his two made dunks per game, Okpara has shown elite returns with the small number of field goal attempts he’s needed to get to his production. For the NBA, he’ll feist off play-finishing, putbacks and any other garbage recycling. In college, he’s been showing good stuff as a creator via post-ups as well, making it more feasible that he can sustain and even grow his offensive role. With a very expendable center position in today’s NBA, having a broader way to score and different moves help. And that’s where Okpara’s gaining an advantage compared to some of his peers.
His hips are incredible. So fluid. The first play has him use his strong upper legs to pivot hard with his left and immediately spin and rise up for his low-post jumper. He’s smooth in moving his feet and rising up vertically. His length and high-arcing release puts the defender in no chance to stop him in the second possession as well. However, he’s rushing his finishes often with the third play showing a lack of composure from short range. At a career finishing rate of 64.5% on 1.5 free-throws per game, it’s decent but still a risk to teams choosing to hack him.
The best part is that in post-ups he’s throwing his back in play more often than not. He’s excellent in creating angles with his quick movement and his verticality helps him to maximize the angles with a good finish selection. There’s a world to where Okpara can earn gravity in the post and force defenders to help to create open teammates to pass to on top of his finishing.
Screening and play-finishing
He’s a good screener as well. That helps him to play more like a handoff hub or be a active screener inside the paint, on and off the ball. He’s setting stone hard walls and seeks to use his broad shoulders and speed to dive to the rim when he can. The first play shows him set a wall, force the pick-and-roll defender to pressure the ball handler as he can’t fight around it to where Okpara dove the rim timely to finish the lob pass. Even when he’s screening on the outside, he’s using his shoulders and arms in a way to add extra time for his ball handler by bothering the pick-and-roll defender. He’s leading to separation more often than not while his rolls are timely and often very fast with him letting his verticality speak. At 69 dunks this season, his screening is a big reason why he’s at these close-to-elite number.
The third and fourth plays are simply the time he’s putting in positioning his screen to where he has enough space to be creative in which way he should dive to the rim. The fourth possession has him move to the weak side because the entire defense is on the strong side focusing on the ball handler. He’s a smart roller as well and that’s what translates in the NBA. The solid screening skill is a value-riser for Okpara’s profile.
Passing, ball-moving, and playmaking
At a career 56 assists to 129 turnovers, the numbers don’t indicate any type of playmaking from Okpara. That’s been the case so far. He’s a ball-mover at best and that’s taking away some of his long-term potential. He’s not comfortable in passing out of doubles or executing his playmaking reads. He’s more of a read-and-react to where his focus is to finish plays in the interior and simply keep the ball flowing when he’s fed outside the paint. That’s the role context but it’s not that he can’t execute any playmaking read. There is some potential there to tap into.
The first play has him save the bad post-entry pass to where he sees the double coming and immediately hits the weak-side corner. That’s a quick execution of him seeing that teammate open. He’s also good at recognizing angles with the defender going over his screen in the handoff to where Okpara fakes it and feeds his man cutting the rim instead. Similar play in the third possession. Okpara recognizes the game to where he feeds teammates the ball where they need it, and not simply and lazily handing the ball off on the perimeter. That’s a big positive. He’s also good under pressure with the fourth play having him move with the shot-clock winding down toward the passer’s angle and immediately keeps the ball flowing in the high post.
He won’t turn into a top playmaker by any means, but the basics of quick ball movement is more than in his profile while he’s flirting with executing some reads. NBA teams should focus on pairing his great post-up skill to growing his game into a inside-out type of playmaker. That’s the trajectory.
NBA Draft Projection
I expect Felix Okpara to be undrafted during the 2026 NBA Draft. He’s elite at what he does, but his role is a expendable one to where teams will feel they have options like him in every draft class. The other side of the coin is that defensively he’s more than ready to play a role while offensively the touch and efficiency are proven commodities in his four-year collegiate career.
On top of that, he has had a good summer so far, even earning many workouts with NBA teams. It won’t warrant a guaranteed contract, while there is no real urgency to draft him because in his Okpara’s situation it’s best to choose his NBA team himself to where he’ll be a wanted commodity in the two-way market right after the draft ends. That’s something we often see as prospects who know their role and likeliness of signing a two-way rather not get drafted and choose the destination themselves.
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