Jahlil Okafor Has a Higher Upside Than Nerlens Noel

Many fans want the Philadelphia 76ers to trade Jahlil Okafor to clear a frontcourt logjam, but Nerlens Noel has the lower ceiling.

It’s something that’s made my ears bleed since December. Hearing that the Philadelphia 76ers should trade Jahlil Okafor instead of Nerlens Noel. Many who were behind the idea of trading Okafor haven’t even considered the reasoning behind trading Noel.

With the NBA trade deadline approaching this past February, fans finally realized that having Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor play on the same team — and certainly in the same lineup — was not working. With the projection that Joel Embiid would return to basketball the following season, there was no way the frontcourt would be able to produce with all three players. Someone had to be traded.

A large majority of the fanbase supports Nerlens Noel (as shown by our most recent weekend poll) sticking with the team instead of Jahlil Okafor. That was made evident especially when rumors arose that the Sixers were talking with the Atlanta Hawks about trading Noel for Teague.

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Now, I believe that even those who would rather keep Nerlens on the team would be fine with him moving, given that it is for the right price. I do, however, feel like some fans have overvalued him and give him too much market credit.

Supporters who were displeased with the rumored trade talks cried out asking why the team would risk Teague, who is essentially a one-season rental point guard, when Noel could have a huge season next year.

That sentiment is one I can agree with. Moving a player is risky, especially when they’re young. You don’t know for sure what they will be in the following season, and you could trade them for a low value, and realize years later that their value was much higher.

The thing is, though, the same argument could be placed for Okafor if the team was rumored to be heavily shopping him around. Why trade a player with just one season under his belt, especially if that first season was a solid one?

What we do know is that Nerlens Noel has shown signs of regressing. I won’t sit here and slander what the big man did last season. Let’s be honest, he was put in a tough situation and asked to play out of position for part of the year, and his per 36 numbers actually increased by the end of the season compared to his rookie year. At the same time, though, Nerlens worked all summer on his jump shot back home in New England, and it did not improve.

Noel could not play out of position, and when Okafor was asked to do so, Okafor did it at a decent level, definitely better than Noel.

My point — we’ve seen signs of a negative trajectory from Noel. From Okafor, all we have seen is a positive trajectory. He came in as a rookie, was not as awful as we thought he was going to be on defense (in fact, he really wasn’t statistically all that bad) and even showed that he could hit some longer shots. Noel couldn’t do that.

Looking ahead to next year, if the Sixers don’t trade a big man, Nerlens Noel will struggle. It’s evident that Noel had a setback year because of the logjam that exists in the frontcourt, and until it’s cleared, Noel will be unable to produce certainly on the offensive end, and may be inhibited slightly defensively as well.

The more I think about the situation, the more I realize that the safe move is to keep both Noel and Okafor on the team until they are certain Embiid is healthy, and until they see what both of the young big men can do on the floor.

The thing is, if you don’t move Okafor, Noel will not succeed. But if you don’t move Noel, Okafor will be just fine. I believe if the Sixers don’t move a player before the season begins — which is a very real possibility — it will become evident that Okafor is the more adaptable, and better player when compared to Noel.

There is evidence that Noel has backslid in some areas, and no evidence that Okafor is on any career trajectory but up.

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A majority of the fanbase is still sticking by Noel despite him taking a huge step back last season offensively. I think we should start considering keeping the player that has shown his value the most.