Chuma Okeke grinding out of a sophomore slowdown

The Orlando Magic had to wait for Chuma Okeke for a long time.

The team drafted him in the 2019 Draft knowing he would need time to recover from a torn ACL. They planned to defer that whole year playing in the G-League as he recovered.

COVID slowed his return to the court and delayed the start of his now-rookie season in 2021. Only four games into that season, a bone bruise in his knee caused the team to slow things down and hold him out for 16 games.

There was a lot of waiting. But then came a lot of excitement.

All the injuries the Magic faced threw Okeke into the lineup quickly and he became of the team’s more trusted defensive players. His offense started to come around too, notably making a mark in that point guard-less loss to the Golden State Warriors with nine points and three 3-pointers. He would have his breakthrough a few weeks later with 11 points and three 3-pointers in a home win over the Warriors.

From there Okeke started to find his comfort, displaying solid footwork on a post-game that featured a turnaround jumper and some consistency with his shooting from deep. There was still a lot the young forward needed to work on, but the Magic had high hopes for him and his versatility.

Okeke has had his ups and downs again in his second season. Even with the promise of more opportunity — and the potential to claim a starting spot with Jonathan Isaac still recovering from a torn ACL — Chuma Okeke has struggled to grab his opportunity.

Chuma Okeke has gotten out of the gates slow in his second season as the Orlando Magic try to get him comfortable and confident again coming off their bench.

A season that has started off with so much promise has shown some stagnation instead. Unlike his fellow second-year player in Cole Anthony, who has quickly developed into the Magic’s best offensive option and closer and a contender for the league’s Most Improved Player of the Year, Chuma Okeke has seemingly hit a wall once again.

Okeke averaged 7.8 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game with a 49.2-percent effective field goal percentage. This year, Okeke has not performed much better, averaging 7.1 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game with a 43.9-percent effective field goal percentage.

His minutes are down only slightly — 25.2 minutes per game to 21.1 minutes per game — allowing for some comparison between his seasons so far.

Certainly part of the issue is that Okeke sat out much of the team’s training camp and preseason with a bone bruise in his hip. That slowed any chance for him to get into his rhythm and take the steps forward — especially defensively — that everyone saw for him.

Nobody should be ready to give up on Okeke by any means. Even with all the difficulties he has had to start his season, there are still plenty of signs of what Okeke can do and be.

There is still a lot of season left to play.

Everything though for Okeke starts with his shooting. At the end of the day, the Magic need him to make shots. And his 23.2-percent shooting from beyond the arc on the same number of attempts as last year is certainly concerning.

He has made only 25.6-percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers this year, down from a respectable 39.8-percent last year. This is a huge decrease from what many thought would be Okeke’s best contribution to this team.

Okeke had a rough finish to the year shooting last year too. It was attributed to the rookie wall — a common slowdown among rookie players as they get used to the travails of an 82-game season.

But that has seemingly carried over as he gets used to a new offensive role, gets used to a new offensive style and recovers from his preseason injury.

This change for Okeke has probably hit him the hardest.

He has been on the ball a whole lot more — his usage rate has bumped up from 14.5-percent last year to 16.7-percent this year. He is averaging 1.77 dribbles per touch according to data from Second Spectrum when he averaged only 1.07 dribbles per touch last year.

That certainly suggests Okeke has been a bit more adventurous with the ball — his drives according to Second Spectrum data are slightly up from last year — and it shows both in his shooting percentages and in these numbers.

The one area Okeke has seemingly found his place is in the low-post where he has a hands-down turn-around fadeaway. Okeke is scoring six points (2-for-5 shooting) on 10 post-up possessions according to Second Spectrum.

Everything just seems off offensively for Okeke.

Part of this is certainly some of the difficult bench lineups he has played in.

The most-used lineup with Chuma Okeke also includes Jalen Suggs, Gary Harris, Terrence Ross and Mo Bamba (31 minutes with a net rating of -13.5 points per 100 possessions). The best lineup with Okeke has been five minutes played with Cole Anthony, Gary Harris, Terrence Ross and Moritz Wagner (a +116.7 net rating).

No lineup with Okeke that has played at least 12 minutes this season has a positive net rating — a lineup with Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, Gary Harris and Wendell Carter has a -0.9 net rating.

It would seem Okeke is not a player right now who has much of an effect on the lineups he is in. With his inefficiencies at this point, that is not surprising.

Most of the Magic’s problems all season has been that search for a playmaker coming off the bench. One that will surely be helped with Markelle Fultz‘s return.

Okeke is proving not to be that. He, like Ross and his own struggles, is having trouble getting the setups he needs to succeed. It is no surprise like with every other player, Okeke plays better with Anthony, Wagner or Carter. His best two-player lineups come with Anthony (-2.5 net rating in 117 minutes).

Anthony cannot play every minute at this point as much as that would benefit the team (if fatigue were turned off).

Okeke will have to continue contributing where he can. The Magic could rely on him and set him up in that favored block of his.

But Okeke can still contribute a whole lot more. The Magic saw how he can play attacking the basket and setting up his own shot. And the team believes he can still be a strong spot-up shooter.

Those pieces have not come together yet. Okeke has struggled to find his footing in his second season. That is the only way to describe it currently.

Orlando certainly could work to set him up better. But he has also been mired in a sophomore slump that he has to work himself out of.