Former No. 3 overall NBA draft pick signs with Spanish club

Free agent center Jahlil Okafor, the No. 3 overall pick of the 2015 draft, has officially signed with Casademont Zaragoza of Spain’s Liga ACB, the team announced (via Twitter). According to Eurohoops.net, Okafor inked a one-year contract.

Olga Lorent of Onda Regional was the first to report that Zaragoza was trying to close a deal with Okafor.

A college star at Duke who helped lead the Blue Devils to the NCAA Championship in 2014-15, Okafor was drafted by the 76ers, spending his first two-plus seasons with the club. The 27-year-old bounced around the NBA for the next handful of seasons, playing for the Nets, Pelicans and Pistons from 2017-21.

Known as a strong post scorer who is limited defensively, Okafor’s last season in the league came back in 2020-21 with Detroit. In six NBA seasons, he holds career averages of 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 247 regular season games (116 starts, 19.5 minutes.)

Okafor signed a training camp deal with Atlanta ahead of 2021-22 but was released before the season started. He wound up playing for the Zhejiang Lions in China. Last season, the veteran big man played for the Mexico City Capitanes of the NBA G League, averaging 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds in 16 games (27.0 minutes.)

This will be the first European stint for Okafor, who suited up for Team Nigeria during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Zaragoza finished 12-22 during the 2022-23 regular season, 13th out of 18 Liga ACB teams.