Chuma Okeke, the 22-year-old rookie out of Auburn for the Orlando Magic, delivered a stunning poster atop the head of Los Angeles Lakers big man Andre Drummond in the early slate of games on Monday night:
Chuma got Drummond 😤pic.twitter.com/LnivT79JX5
— Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) April 26, 2021
Okeke, who sat out the 2019-20 season recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in his final Auburn game, was drafted 16th overall by the Magic in 2019 and has made the most of his minutes in his first official season in the league.
The 22-year-old certainly learned from sitting out the season, as he is one of the better defenders on the Magic – being the only player still on the team with a positive defensive box plus/minus (with at least 80 total minutes played). Okeke’s DBPM is +0.3.
That’s even more impressive considering this is his first official season, and he has played over 1000 minutes. As it stands, Okeke is one of the all-around players on the team after the Magic committed hard to a rebuild at the trade deadline by trading away its longtime core of Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier. The only notable remaining player from years past is Terrence Ross.
While the Magic have obtained a number of interesting young players over the years (Markelle Fultz, Mo Bamba, RJ Hampton, Cole Anthony) the team has been hampered by injuries all season across the board.
Luckily, that luck hasn’t impacted Okeke too much on the Magic, especially considering coming off major surgery for the ACL.
With a dunk like that, let’s hope Okeke gets on the radar a bit more as a talented and high-upside young prospect for the Magic. He, like his team, is trying to grow and evolve in the NBA over the next several years. Championship contention won't come now or even next season, but maybe in five years, Okeke and Orlando could create something special.
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