NBA Rumors: Philadelphia 76ers Linked to Boston Celtics

At the 2016 trade deadline, the Celtics offered their top first round pick for Jahlil Okafor. NBA rumors hint that offer might still be on the table

Leading up to the trade deadline, the Boston Celtics were in the hunt for ways to improve their roster for the upcoming playoffs. To do that, the team realized it needed some offensive “oomph” at the center position, and recognized that the Philadelphia 76ers might be willing to part with one of their two centers for the right price.

Unfortunately, the Celtics did not offer the right price at the time.

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But events have changed.  The pick once offered to the Philadelphia 76ers might have been the top pick of the NBA draft, or may have fallen to sixth.   The odds for the Celtics pick (from the Brooklyn Nets) was 15.6% at number one, and 46.9% for a top three.   That pick landed at three.

“The Boston Celtics … are willing to put together a mother lode to get into the spot(Okafor)”

But other events have changed as well.  Sam Hinkie is no longer making decisions for the Philadelphia 76ers. That task now falls to Bryan Colangelo.  With the changing of the guard comes a new mantra. “Let’s start winning on the court” replaces “let’s win the off-season draft and trades”.

If you think that the Celtics have lost interest in the scenario, guess again.   Don’t trust me, trust the words of CSN New England’s Gary Tanguay, who joined the WIP Morning Show on May 19, 2016 and said the Celtics would trade the third overall pick in this year’s draft for Okafor:

"Angelo Cataldi: You have been on top of this story with the Celtics’ affection with Jahlil Okafor. Is that still there? Kind of give us sense of where they are with that.Gary Tanguay: Yeah, yeah, I think so. As soon as the lottery came down, there was buzz immediately that Philadelphia wanted to move and they wanted that number three pick because they’re interested in Kris Dunn out of Providence and then you would have Dunn, and you know, say, ‘I know what the Sixers are thinking, they go with Simmons, you have a guard in Dunn, and then you get your big guy Noel and you ship Okafor up here.’ The Celtics would do that deal in a minute.Cataldi: Whoa, whoa, stop! You’re telling me, that right now, if the Sixers offered Okafor for number three, the Celtics would say yes?Tanguay: Absolutely.Cataldi: Oh, ho! Rhea, make some calls!Rhea Hughes: And Gary thinks it would be dumb of the Sixers, don’t you Gar?Cataldi: You do?Tanguay: Well, yeah because, I love Okafor. I think he’s your best player. I like him better than Noel."

They are very interested, but for more than just to get a good center.  In this article by Chad Finn written on May 23, 2016 for Boston.com, he writes that Okafor could merely be a bridge, a chip to use in a mega trade down the road.

And he may be right.  That is likely why Sam Hinkie brought Okafor to the 76ers in the first place.  In another rumor offering, the folks over at the Hall of Fame Magazine suggest that the Boston Celtics will be selecting Kris Dunn at the three deliberately to flip Dunn to the Sixers for Okafor.

I think that the original offer at the trade deadline was more than a single pick. Here’s what ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on SportsCenter:

"The Sixers at No. 3 have a number of huge offers that they can take from teams that want to get in there and covet Jahlil Okafor very badly, at the top of that list being the Boston Celtics who are willing to put together a mother lode to get into the spot.”"

When I hear the terms “put together a mother lode”, I am hearing more than a single pick.  Right now, the Boston Celtics are swimming in picks, but they want playoff caliber talent to jump right onto their roster.  That won’t be found in this NBA draft outside of the top two picks.

Boston holds the 3, 16, 23, 31, 35, 45, 51 and 58 picks in the 2016 NBA draft.  At any given point of time, some or most of these picks have been linked to a trade for Jahlil Okafor.  But that’s not all, the Celtics have been rumored to offer both the 3 and  Marcus Smart to the Sixers for Jahlil Okafor, per MorningnewsUSA on March 29, 2016.  

"The Boston Celtics will offer Marcus Smart and the lottery draft pick owed to them by Brooklyn Nets to try and acquire Jahlil Okafor away from Philadelphia 76ers this offseason, per league sources."

There continues to be far too much buzz from this storyline to ignore. Point guard Marcus Smart plus a three which could lead to the 76ers obtaining Dragan Bender or Jamal Murray would be worth contemplating.

Next: NBA Rumors: Philadelphia 76ers Linked to Denver Nuggets

Once more, I’m relying upon you to vote yay or nay.  I am merely pulling together the rumors from across the league which involve the Philadelphia 76ers.   This completes the seventh such scenario.  While you weight the merits of this and other possible transactions with other teams, we’ll keep looking.  We are only halfway there on the “at least 15 teams” so we’ve plenty of ground to cover.