The Philadelphia 76ers have made a multitude of changes since the conclusion of the NBA’s regular season. In April, Sam Hinkie, the 76ers GM at the time resigned, which led to Bryan Colangelo being brought in to fill the vacant position. Hinkie was the leader of the tanking 76ers, as they posted a league worst 10-72 record. The 76ers have fallen below the 20 win plateau each of the last three seasons. They have had lottery draft picks in each of the past four seasons. Over the last four seasons, it has become a struggle for even the most loyal Sixers fans to rally behind their horrific team. While these Sixers’ fans have dealt with struggles, a dose of sunshine has appeared in the forecast. Philly has multiple potential core pieces on their roster, and a slew of draft picks in upcoming drafts.
Unfortunately for Sam Hinkie, he will not be the person selecting for the 76ers, who have the number one pick in this year’s draft. Hinkie had to endure the pain and fan frustration that came along with tanking, and will not receive the joy the Sixers’ fanbase will have when the team makes the playoffs within the foreseeable future. Things are looking up for the 76ers. Joel Embiid is expected to make his highly anticipated debut after sitting out his first two seasons in the NBA. Dario Saric, the 12th pick from the 2014 NBA Draft, is set to join the team after playing overseas for the past two seasons.
Now, ESPN’s Chad Ford recently said that there is “high likelihood” that the Sixers trade either Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor before the beginning of the 2016-2017 season.
Trading either Okafor or Noel would be a major mistake by the 76ers brain trust. Philadelphia is nowhere near ready to compete for a playoff spot next season, and they are contemplating trading away a potential core piece before properly determining who their power forward and center of the future will be.
Joel Embiid was always a risk pick by the Sixers, but became an even bigger risk when his leg injury was discovered. He was, although a monster at Kansas, extremely raw, and he has not been playing in-game action for over two years. Embiid is still a hefty risk, despite his guarantee to return for the 2016-17 season and there is no guarantee he pans out to be anything stellar over his career. People seem to expect him to come in and be ready to compete with some of the best players in the world, while he has not played in an official NBA or NCAA basketball game in over two years. He averaged 11.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game at Kansas, but how will those stats and his level of play transition to the NBA now? I like Embiid, and think that he can become a decent player, but the Sixers should not trade Okafor or Noel before Embiid is a facilitated NBA player.
Dario Saric might end up having the best NBA career out of all four big men, but he is a risk as well. He has never played in a NCAA or NBA game. Saric has played four seasons overseas, spending last season with Anadolu Efes Istanbul, averaging 11.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in 24 games with them. Saric also shot 40.3% from three, a definite area of need for the 76ers. He is a very intriguing prospect, but only time will tell if his skill set can transition to the NBA.
Along with the fact that the players set to replace Noel or Okafor are risks, neither of Noel or Okafor are done developing.
Okafor sustained a stellar rookie season for Philadelphia. He averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. He was one of the Sixers best offensive weapons, and he even showed the potential of developing a three-point shot. He took only six threes on the season, but when he took them, they were willing shots. Okafor is a project on defense, but Saric and Embiid are projects, too. He was the number two pick in the 2015 Draft for a reason, and the Sixers cannot give up on someone with such high potential.
Noel would be the easiest of the four players to move away from, but he is the most experienced and most talented, as of now at least. He had a good sophomore season in the NBA. He averaged 11.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He is the best defender out of the four players, as he averaged 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last season as well. Noel is an athletic freak, and he has been since he was featured on national television in his freshman season at Kentucky before he suffered a torn ACL. Noel also played exceptionally well with the Sixers starting point guard Ish Smith. They seemed to have the most chemistry between any two players on the Sixers once Smith was traded to Philly on December 24th. Noel had a solid 2nd season in the NBA, and he is setting himself up for a payday when he becomes a restricted free agent after the 2016-2017 season.
Moving either Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel would be a mistake. The Sixers need to evaluate their frontcourt talent throughout the 2016-2017 season, and then make a decision. The Sixers are in no rush to compete anyways, as we have witnessed throughout the last four seasons. Joel Embiid and Dario Saric are potentially starter level players in the NBA, but until their talent can be evaluated against other NBA players, the Sixers should not move either Okafor or Noel to create a roster spot or playing time for them.
