With trade rumors swirling, the Sixers held Jahlil Okafor out of action on Saturday night, and didn’t bring him on their trip to Charlotte for Monday’s game. However, Okafor has rejoined the Sixers in Boston and will play in tonight’s game against the Celtics, as Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com writes. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter), Nerlens Noel will remain in the starting lineup, with Okafor coming off the bench.
When Okafor was initially kept out of action over the weekend, it appeared that the Sixers were moving toward finalizing a trade involving the former No. 3 overall pick. Indeed, a source tells Camerato that the team had been close to a deal involving Okafor. Now that the club is ready to re-insert him into the lineup, it seems no trade is imminent.
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, people around the NBA are skeptical that the Sixers were ever all that close to moving Okafor. O’Connor’s sources speculate that Okafor’s absence was a failed attempt to “stir interest” and “flush out” teams’ best offers.
The Pelicans, Bulls, Nuggets, and Trail Blazers have been linked to Okafor in recent reports, but O’Connor suggests Denver and Portland don’t appear to be serious suitors, and he’s not sure Chicago is either. New Orleans seemed to be gaining momentum on a possible Okafor deal earlier this month, but that was nine days ago, and nothing has come of it yet.
The Sixers’ game tonight is the team’s last one before February 24, a day after the trade deadline, so it’s possible that it will be Okafor’s last contest with the franchise. We’ll have to wait to see if the offers for Okafor improve by next Thursday, or if Philadelphia eventually settles for an offer currently on the table.
Its embarassing that a talent like Okafor is coming off the bench. Seriously trade the guy to a team like Chicago who can use his skill set to help Wade and Butler and watch Chicago be in a Game 7 against Cleveland in the Conference Finals. Alongside Taj Okafor can flourish since Taj can defend the rim.
We’d have to get rid of Lopez tho. But I like the sound of it
You’re delusional. Bulls aren’t going anywhere with or without Okafor much less the conference finals. How does Okafor address the Bulls two gaping issues of spacing the floor offensively and playing defense? He exacerbates both problems. Nobody on that team can hit a three. Take a look around the NBA and name me a serious playoff contender that is inept at the three ball.
Idk if you have watched Okafor enough but with the touches and minutes he can easily score 18-30 points a night and grab 8-12 boards its just hes not getting the opportunity. His skill set in the post and taking guys off the dribble is unmatched, I can’t name another big aside from Cousins who has legit post moves and can beat his defender one on one. And Cousins is not even that polished he is just overpowering and uses his size and strength to score, plus he is a pretty good shooter and can bring the ball up court and make plays. Not saying Okafor is better then Cousins, but I can’t name another big aside from Cousins,Love, and Aldridge who can post like Okafor.
That skill set is BEYOND antiquated in the NBA? Do the Cavs, Warriors, Rockets, Spurs, or Celtics have back to the basket post dominant guys? Aldridge would be the only one, and he has much more to his game than a back to the basket player. Pair that with the fact he was called in a recent ESPN article THE worst defensive player in the NBA and it’s clear he’s not going to help this Bulls team.
MCW put up insane points when he was on the Sixers his rookie year as well. Someone has to score the basketball. That doesn’t mean he’ll be a good player in the NBA and the league is trending away from these types of players, fairly quickly too I might add.
He may not be THE worst defender in the NBA, but #2, #5, top 10? That’s not a guy I’m looking to acquire to boost my team for the short and long term. His skill set is that of a 1990’s center.
You are out of your mind thinking okafor will ever grab that many boards/game.. the dude plays no defense at all, can’t defend the pick and roll, has no outside shot..
The inky center worth that kind of no outside shot is Drummond because he can rebound like a machine.
Okafor is going to be a mediocre player coming off the bench for some offense.. Noel is the guy with all the value.
The real problem from the stinxers is embiid will never play a full season and will be a major medical issue.. they need to keep centers in case he goes out, which he is..
The other problem is, if Okafor isn’t traded Noel will walk and the stinxers need a center to backup embiid..
The process was flawed and colangelo is a lair.. team is boned
Stinxers…really though. So last year
Taj used to be a great defender, now he’s a good one but he is NOT a rim protector. This is a classic ploy by the Bulls front office to drum up ticket sales and interest for a team that, again, will finish 6-8 in the East and bow out in the first round. Okafor doesn’t move the needle in any positive direction for the Bulls. Nice to see you’re both falling for Jerry and GarPax’s “master plan”.
Be careful what you wish for Bulls fans. As a Sixer fan I’m just glad Noel is starting, which should have been the case whenever Joel is out. Noel can guard anyone on the court just about while Jah can’t guard ANYONE! Holmes should get time before Okafor
Yeah dude Jah solves all the Bulls problems. No reason a sub .500 team can’t run the table in the East if you add an immense scoring talent like Jah. Matter of fact if they get Jah they could probably challenge the Warriors once they make it to the Finals. Bottom line is Jah gets buckets. Buckets win rings. Enough said
Superb troll job my friend.
Lol. I say this as a Bulls fan, this team isn’t going anywhere. Okafor, or not.
They have no team chemistry, low morale, a coach that isn’t qualified to coach an 8th grade girls team, and a front office who thinks it’s a jobs-for-life program for their unqualified buddies.
All Bulls fans must boycott.
Hey now. Careful about those 8th grade girls teams. I have a granddaughter playing for her middle school and I hope their coach is up to my little girl’s LeBron Jamesesque talent. ~ ~
colangelo doesn’t have the balls hinkie had. starting to think he is sabotaging the Sixer’s on purpose.
#firejerry
you guys are so overrating Okafor. I’ve watched him for a while as a Sixers fan and here are his problems. He isn’t a good shooter, he’s slow, he doesn’t play D, he’s not a good FT shooter, he doesn’t finish strong, and he’s not even as tall as he’s listed i would say he’s probably 6’9 maybe 6’10? Because as big as he is he looks much smaller compared to other legit 7footers. And that matters when his vertical is maybe 12-15inches!
His problems mirror those of the Bulls. Which is why it makes sense for GarPax to move assets for him to compound the issue.
Please take Okafor off our hands. Give us 2 first round picks and I’ll laugh at you for years. He’s a good post scorer but a TERRIBLE defender. If ownership wouldn’t have forced Hinkie to take Okafor, we’d have Porzingis teaming with Embiid. It’s a shame it’s come to this. Shout out to Jahlil for handling it so well!
Dirk was never a good defender and is a 1st ballot hall of famer, neither was Steve Nash. All Okafor needs to do is work on defense and be surrounded by multiple players who can defend.
Dirk is also a generational talent at 7 feet who shoots from outside and the FT line at very high clips, and earlier in his career was quite good in the paint. Every single “stretch 4” ever essentially aspires to be what Dirk is/was
Please stop with the Porzingas teaming up with Embiid talk. No one knew what he was going to be like when he came in the NBA. If we went back two years and the Sixers drafted Porzingas, you would’ve been complaining about the Sixers drafting a guy you never heard of before. Hindsight is a great thing.
I wanted Porzingod
NBA forces The Colangelo’s on the Sixers and they stand pat. Awful for us fans.
Noel is the player to trade at this point. Has been all season. Does it make sense to pay 80M to a back up center? Ask the Magic how that is going. Okafor makes 5M a season. Trade Noel, showcase Okafor until Embiid returns (if or when?) and trade him in a package on draft day.
You can also ask the Raptors how much different things were last year,compared to this year with that same backup center.The magic had a flawed roster to begin with.
If the right deal comes along for either 1 of them,it should be made.but id still rather pay Noel 80,than a Mozgov 64 or a Miles Plumlee 50.and considering the difference between the way the team plays with Noel compared to Jah,Jah should be the preferred trade piece.add to that,Embiid couldn’t make it through 50 games,with minute restrictions and not playing any back to backs,we might need to.
Im a fan of Holmes as well.i was from day 1.but his +/- is just as bad as Okafors on a night to night basis.
Okafor and Noel are worth at least a lottery pick each. Probably with a young prospect included.
If I were the Sixers I’d also float Embiid’s name. But he would be among the most expensive players in the NBA when combine age, incredible talent, and cost.
Not at all. Noel isn’t because he’s due to become a free agent at the end of the year. No team is giving up a lottery pick plus a prospect plus signing Noel to a deal that is likely to pass $13 million annually (on the low end). Teams can bypass the whole trading process and submit an offer sheet at the same price since the Sixers are unlikely to match (otherwise they are stuck with him even longer). Okafor, on the other hand, is a good scorer but can’t play defense. His style of play no longer fits in the current NBA style of play. Teams don’t want a big who can’t protect the rim, will get exposed on pick and rolls, but also can’t really do much offensively besides post up.
I disagree completely and think you are wrong. Time will tell.
We will NEVER TRADE JOEL