The Jahlil Okafor trade saga is one of the more exhausting storylines through the first several weeks of the 2017-18 NBA season. Okafor has been a healthy scratch for 8 of the Philadelphia 76ers’ first 9 games, and despite the fact that everybody knows the 76ers are trying to trade him, nothing has happened yet. It’s a bad look for the 76ers despite the fact that they have every right to do what they’re doing. Okafor is under contract with Philadelphia for the remainder of the season, and there is nothing he can do about it, so he’ll rot on the bench until they decide to do something with him.
The way the 76ers have handled Okafor this season has received some scrutiny. Most recently, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Isaiah Thomas called the organization out on Twitter for keeping him hostage in Philly, and former veteran NBA forward Reggie Evans shared a similar sentiment. This is understandable from the players perspective, as Okafor will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, and having him ride the bench in Philadelphia for seemingly no reason could cost him millions of dollars in free agency this summer.
It was no surprise that the 76ers declined Okafor’s 4th-year option, giving him that unrestricted free agency status this summer, but that makes their insistence on keeping him around that much more confusing. We already know Okafor doesn’t have a future in Philly, and despite that fact, the 76ers are holding out hope that they’ll be able to acquire a real asset for him, but that just doesn’t seem realistic based on every report we’ve heard.
NBA.com’s David Aldridge dropped a few new details regarding Jahlil Okafor’s NBA future on Monday, and it appears as though the Chicago Bulls and the Atlanta Hawks are frontrunners to land Okafor as soon as the 76ers figure out what they’re doing. Aldridge also tried to make sense of Philly’s strategy here.
“League sources indicate the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks are the most likely destinations for Okafor. But the Sixers are still holding out for at least a Draft pick, and could still opt to keep Okafor either as insurance against further injury to Embiid, or as a potential expiring contract to aggregate as the trade deadline nears.”
We’re sure the draft pick the 76ers are holding out for would have to be a second rounder, because there is no chance that anybody is giving up a draft pick of significant value now that Okafor isn’t under team control through restricted free agency this summer. Trading for Okafor at this point amounts to a less than a 1-year rental for a guy whose ability to play in the NBA is still very much in question. That said, both the Hawks and Bulls — two of the NBA’s worst teams with cap room to absorb his contract and reason to take a shot on his potential for the future — make sense as potential destinations.
Considering the bad publicity the 76ers have received from how they’ve handled Okafor this season, on top of the criticism they’ve received for how they’ve handled Markelle Fultz’s injured shoulder, there is an argument to be made that letting Okafor go is worth it from a PR standpoint alone. NBA players and agents pay attention to this stuff, as Isaiah Thomas’ tweet indicated. It’s hard to imagine that whatever minor asset they hold out for is worth all this drama, but it may be too late for a make-good transaction, anyway.
