Adrian Fedkiw
The Philadelphia 76ers are open for business regarding Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel.
ESPN’s Chad Ford made a guest appearance on 97.3 ESPN in South Jersey Thursday to discuss what the Sixers might do with their influx of big men.
I think that there’s a very high likelihood, that whether it’s to move up in the draft or use them to grab a free agent in a sign and trade or just to a trade, that you will not see the Nerlens Noel/Jahlil Okafor pairing at the start of next season. I think that they’ll gauge the interest of both players. I think that there might be a slight preference for Noel, to keep him around with the Sixers, and I think you might be right, there might be a slight, better value for Okafor out on the market, but I think everyone agrees that that combination of those two players doesn’t necessarily work.
With a quintet of Noel, Okafor, Dario Saric, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, there’s just not enough minutes to go around, so moving a Noel or Okafor makes sense. Okafor possesses more trade value and you’d get a larger return if you part with him now, kind of like the Philadelphia Phillies did with closer Ken Giles when they sent him to the Houston Astros.
There’s obviously a major risk by moving Okafor or Noel now because nobody knows what the Sixers have in Embiid and whether or not he can stay healthy. Saric has also never played an NBA game.
There’s no question, though, that the Sixers need some backcourt help.
The Sixers needs to pick up assets, especially if they’re gonna go ahead and do a Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram with the first pick in the draft. Then they’re gonna need those assets to start to fill out their backcourt, because the 24th pick and [the 26th pick], you’re not finding starters. I’m not even sure that you’re necessarily finding rotation players at that back end of the draft that are gonna make big impact, so they’re gonna have to do that via free agency or via trade, and I think either Okafor or Noel — I don’t think they’ll trade both — but one of those two is probably their best trade chip.
There was interest from the Boston Celtics about obtaining Okafor in a package prior to the trade deadline. Boston has the No. 3 pick in the draft, which might be enticing for Philly considering it would have its choice between the trio of Providence’s Kris Dunn, Kentucky’s Jamal Murray and Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield.
If the Sixers were to take Simmons at No. 1 and did acquire the third pick, you’d think the selection would be Murray or Hield because Simmons is a point forward and Dunn likes to have the ball in his hands too. Murray and Hield are also both outstanding shooters, which would play perfectly for Simmons in the drive-and-kick game. If the Sixers choose Ingram, however, then I’d take Dunn.
From the Process to the Progress, it should be a fun summer in Sixers land!