Jahlil Okafor vs Nerlens Noel: Ending The Debate

Philadelphia 76ers fans are polarizing over the Jahlil Okafor vs Nerlens Noel issue. Time to end The Debate

Good vs Evil.

Offense vs Defense.

Jahlil Okafor vs Nerlens Noel.

Those are three examples of opposite things. There has been a good debate in comment sections among Philadelphia 76ers fans on many sites around the web over Okafor and Noel. The debate is on the future of this team, and falls nto three distinct categories: The trade Noel camp, trade Okafor camp, or the keep both camp. I happen to fall into the last category.

In my experience, most people seem to be siding with Noel, and conclude that Okafor should be the traded player. The argument goes like this: Nerlens play was more valuable last year. If stats are used without context, mistakes happen. If there is one thing you can count on me for, it’s taking stats and giving them context instead of just seeing it in black and white.

Jahlil Okafor 2015-2016 game logs

Nerlens Noel 2014-2015 game logs

When you look at these stats, you start to realize that memory can be short-sighted. When people think of Noel’s rookie season they most likely just remember him catching an alley-oop from Ish Smith and playing havoc to other teams offenses through rim protection.

What may not be immediate is the realization that Noel didn’t look so good in his first 26 games, In fact, he looked a lot more disappointing than Okafor. Noel had a worse True Shooting Percentage (TS%) by more than four percent, worse Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%) by two percent, worse Total Rebound Percentage (TRB%) by almost one percent, a higher Turnover Percentage (TOV%) by more than 8% while having a Usage Percentage (USG%) that was over 12 percent lower! Noel’s Offensive Rating (ORtg) was also 11 points lower than Okafor’s while having a Defensive Rating (DRtg) that was 8 points better than Okafor which would make Okafor a Net three points better than Noel at the same point in their respective careers per 100 possessions.

Okafor also had an average Game Score (GmSc) that was over 4 points better than Noel’s. So while Noel was a much better defender than Okafor, Okafor was a better offensive player than Noel by a larger margin than the margin between the two on defense which made Okafor better overall.

When looking at these stats remember that Noel started his career with with 2014 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams (*Missed first seven games of 2014-15 season) and Tony Wroten as his point guard running mates. In comparison, Okafor began with Isaiah Canaan who is arguably the worst passing point guard in the NBA and T.J McConnell, an undrafted rookie. Also you have to take into consideration that Noel was with the team watching NBA ball and getting NBA coaching for a full year before he even stepped on the court officially. Those are advantages Okafor did not have yet still posted better stats in the first 26 games than Noel. We need to be fair and wait a full season to judge Okafor. Since we were patient awaiting Noel to recover and then to develop with a more established back court, ,why not Okafor? I love the upside of these guys and what they bring to the table. Yes they don’t play well together as of now but they are young of age and in NBA experience. Give that chemistry enough time to develop.

We are in year three of the rebuild.

People are ready for results.

ALSO ON SIXER SENSE: Wake Up With The Sixer Sense

Time has no substitute. This pairing needs to work together for the next couple of years. If and only if the tandem hasn’t improved, then the team can explore start exploring trade scenarios. The most likely player remaining with the Sixers at this point is Jahlil Okafor. The NBA has many examples of teams who have won championships built around big men who were offensively gifted like Okafor. Unless Noel somehow turns into Bill Russell, I would not bet on him leading a team to a title as the best player on that team in this day and age. But the combination of Okafor and Noel?

That may be the ticket.