Elie Okobo
Second year guard Elie Okobo was a second-round draft pick for the Suns last year and has spent the majority of his time on the bench. Even when he entered the game, it has often been in garbage time, which the game is no longer in question one way or the other.
While it was understood the backup point guard battle was between Ty Jerome and Jevon Carter before the season started, it was equally understood Okobo would be a deep bench guy and not really compete for the spot.
However, after Carter was relegated to the pine, Jerome was still out with an ankle sprain, and Ricky Rubio suffered from back spasms, Okobo got some opportunities to play real minutes.
During a 5-game stretch in November, Okobo averaged over 20 minutes per game, and put up 9.6 points, 4.8 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per contest. After a diminished role in the next game, Okobo has since found himself back where he began the season, on the end of the bench.
What was more impressive than those numbers during his five-game playing stretch was his +/- stat. Okobo was +10.8 during those games, all of which were close save for match up against the Denver Nuggets.
His overall numbers:
3.9 points per game
2.4 assists per game
0.9 rebounds per game
It is easy to disregard Okobo as a viable option based on his lack of playing time, however, if you look at the numbers of when he played normal backup minutes, they aren’t that bad at all.