The Philadelphia 76ers have two good, young, very tall human beings on their roster in Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel (and there’s also Joel Embiid hanging out too), and it’s no secret they’d like to trade one of them this offseason.
Okafor was the the third pick in 2015, while Noel was the sixth pick in 2013. With Ben Simmons likely to be added in this year’s draft, the 76ers can afford to deal one of the post players already on their team to clear space and improve in other areas.
According to Philly.com, the 76ers would rather trade Okafor, if they have to choose:
Sources have said that the team would prefer to trade Okafor. The Sixers expect to get equal value in return, but it could be hard to do that when every team knows they are looking to unload the big man.
Okafor is also the guy who knocked out a dude while enjoying a night out with friends and has had other off-court problems. It’s weird that’s not even mentioned in the Philly.com story, right? Okafor led the 76ers in scoring at 17.5 points per game and was named to the USA Select team, so the fact he has off-court issues has to be playing into this motivation a little bit. Some of it could be because Okafor has struggled at times defensively and usually shoots when he gets it in the post, while Noel has the potential to be an elite defender and would fit in almost any offensive scheme.
That said, things were so bad for Okafor earlier this season that this website’s own Pete Blackburn felt he needed to offer Okafor advice on how to live his life. Think about that. If Pete is telling you how to live your life, that’s rough.
(Via Philly.com)
