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2024 Free Agents - Chuma Okeke

Summary
Okeke is a talented scoring forward that has shown promise early in his career, but hasn't put the pieces together enough to be effective. His minutes have declined each season, and he only played in 25 games suffered from some leg injuries in '22-'23, which is slightly concerning given his history. With the Magic having other younger, talented players at forward, it was difficult for Okeke to get minutes in '23-'24, and he played very little.

Offensively, Okeke is a scorer that can theoretically score at all three levels. He can create a bit off the dribble, either getting to the rim or midrange pullups. He can also shoot 3s, and do so in more than just simple spot-up situations. However, he just hasn't been anywhere near efficient as a scorer. He has posted only a 50% true shooting on 64% shooting at the rim, 37% from midrange, and 33% from 3, all of which are below average for his position, according to Cleaning the Glass. He isn't very quick or explosive, so he isn't able to put a lot of pressure on defenses when attacking the rim.

Defensively, Okeke posts solid steal, block, and rebounding rates, but doesn't have a big impact on that end. He isn't the most laterally quick, which hurts him as an on-ball defender. He also doesn't have the size or athleticism to provide secondary rim protection as a power forward, which is probably his best position.

Although he was drafted in 2019, Okeke had torn his ACL in March of that year and did not sign his rookie scale contract until 2020, putting him on the timeline of 2020 draftees rather than 2019. Okeke will be nearly 26 years old as a free agent in 2024, so he's not exactly a young prospect. However, there's a chance that whoever signs him to his next contract could get him through his prime. 
 
Cap Considerations
Okeke will be a restricted free agent with a $15.8 million cap hold, $7.4 million Qualifying Offer, and full Bird Rights. I wouldn't expect Okeke's QO to come into play, but I wouldn't rule it out considering it may not be that much lower than his market value starting salary. It's also likely that the Magic don't give him a QO, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.

If a player has a smaller cap hold than his starting salary, his team can use cap space to sign-free agents before using Bird Rights to re-sign its own free agents. Since Okeke's cap hold is pretty high, I don't think this will come into play for the Magic.

Depending on how close the Magic are to the luxury tax after free agency, or how much cap space they need after re-signing him, if Okeke is brought back by the Magic on a multi-year contract they could benefit from frontloading his contract, as it could give them additional flexibility in the future. 

]If Okeke gets offers above the full MLE, only teams with cap space will be able to sign him. However, it's likely he could be had for the full MLE or less, in which case teams without cap space would be able to sign him. Based on how little he played in '23-'24, there's a good chance he's an unrestricted free agent that only gets small offers.

Potential Teams: Trailblazers, Magic, Pacers, Raptors, 76ers

Predicted Contract: 2-year, $15 million with the Trailblazers

Actual Contract: 1-year, $2.2 million (non-guaranteed) with the Knicks

I thought Okeke would have a little more interest as a free agent, but he ended up having to settle for a training camp deal with the Knicks, where he will compete for one of the final roster spots.

Last updated: 7/31/2024

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