The Sixer Sense
Fansided

Trading Jahlil Okafor Could Parallel The Charles Barkley Fiasco

By Bret Stuter

Mar 17, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers special advisor Jerry Colangelo (M) sits courtside during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. The Washington Wizards won 99-94. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers special advisor Jerry Colangelo (M) sits courtside during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. The Washington Wizards won 99-94. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 23, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) attempts to drive past the defense of Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) during the first half at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 23, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) attempts to drive past the defense of Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) during the first half at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

You can never go back

If the Sixers trade Jahlil Okafor now, they will forever risk the knowledge of having giving up on one of the most promising rookies of the 2015 NBA draft, after just one season.   The third overall draft pick, whose game was accurately projected to be a strong offensive post game, but which underestimated his undeniable knack for scoring in heavy traffic.  When Charles Barkley was drafted to the Philadelphia 76ers, he was 21.   By the time Jahlil Okafor reaches that age, he will have started in the NBA for two seasons, and be entering his third year. Charles Barkley did not truly hit his NBA stride until his second season, when he was already 22 years of age.   Jahlil Okafor will be 22 in his fourth season, in the year 2018.

Youth, it seems, is coveted by the Philadelphia 76ers.  But as soon as it arrives, complete with the inexperience and patience demands of crafting a wiley veteran NBA veteran, the price seems too costly, the slope seems to high, and the instincts born of NBA GM simulations kicks in.  Trade and start over!  Get a better player in the draft!

That starts the vicious cycle all over again.  And so, the cries to drop and shop are growing in volume. Swap a young player with huge upside for a chance to end up with a young player with a huge upside?

Swapping players on an NBA roster is become so acceptable that it’s like changing clothes.  Oh… it’s a new season?  Let’s toss this player into the clothes hamper and get a new one out of the NBA draft.  But if there is an analogy to make for NBA rosters and trades, it’s more akin to an organ transplant.  A player has become part of the team roster, but stops functioning as intended.  The player has grown to be apart of that roster. Trading a valuable player has inherent risks of hurting the team even before there is a chance to improve the team.   To make the team healthy again, the same care of typing and donor suitability must be exercised.  Then, after the donor and recipient teams have been matched, then operate the trade.

Trading a player, similar to surgery, is to be used with caution.  Sometimes it makes a team stronger, oftentimes it weakens a team even further.  Right now, the Philadelphia 76ers are not a team awaiting that last piece to complete the puzzle.  But from the moment they decide the team should part ways with the youngest member of the team, they are deciding that not only does he not fit now, but that the cost of keeping him will shunt the development of the overall team for years to come.  That’s the commitment of that decision.  With only a season under their belts, that seems awfully premature.  To know that the player, who has delivered more than the pamphlet indicated he might in his first NBA season, has less to offer than a player yet to arrive is a leap of faith I simply cannot make at this point in time.

Next: Evolve, Not Dissolve