The Door is Wide Open For Nerlens Noel

With Jahlil Okafor out for the rest of the season, center Nerlens Noel has a perfect opportunity to prove his worth.

After missing 5 straight games for the Philadelphia 76ers, it was finally announced that Jahlil Okafor’s season — the team’s first round draft pick — was coming to an end. Okafor had a shin contusion that allowed the team’s medical staff to find a pain in his knee, where they later discovered a minor meniscus tear.

This injury, although at first looking like it was a devastating event for Philly, really opens up the doors for some other members on the team to prove themselves, particularly Nerlens Noel.

Noel’s career has been put on the back-burner in ways by the Sixers this season. Coming into the year, they expected him to make the adjustments to make room for Okafor, not Jah. It took them until last month to realize that they should have asked Okafor to make the adjustments, and by that point, Noel’s season had been covered with shortcomings of not being able to hit shots with any range on them.

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As the trade deadline approached, it was becoming more and more clear to fans and Sixers media that the frontcourt has a big logjam coming up. With Okafor, Noel, and Embiid already on the team, and Dario Saric likely coming over with the possibility of Ben Simmons as well, something has to give, especially with the bigs.

The general consensus is split just about 50/50 with trading either Okafor or Noel. Those who want to trade Okafor see the incredible value he would bring back and the great rim-protector in Noel. Those who want to trade Noel see the incredible scorer — and possibly historic scorer — that Okafor is and will continue to grow to be.

Now, with Okafor out, though, a door is wide open for Noel. It’s not clear what the Sixers front office is thinking about who to trade, but if they were in any way swayed to trade Noel and keep Okafor, Noel has a huge final few weeks all to himself to prove that he’s a big man worth keeping.

It’s a simulation, of sorts. Noel gets the final weeks of the season with no possibility of Okafor seeing the floor alongside him or in the same games as him. He can show that if he is the big man they keep, that he can cover Okafor’s scoring ability, as well as get aggressive on defense by protecting the rim well like he’s always done.

In Friday night’s win over the Nets, Noel was already showing some serious hustle.

Noel has already started his journey as the sole big man with Okafor out. Although Noel sat out alongside him for several of the games, the past two games have been filled with Noel showing that without another big man breathing over his shoulder, he can do well.

He scored 17 points, pulled in 9 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots against the Houston Rockets. In the Sixers’ first win since before the All-Star break on Friday, he had 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

Noel is showing and will continue to show that he’s great when he’s the sole big man on a team. The only issue is that Joel Embiid will still be around even if Okafor is the one traded.

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Despite that, Noel has several weeks that he can, and will use to his advantage to prove that he’s an incredible player.