The Philadelphia 76ers have rookie sensation Jahlil Okafor. Still , in the context of “Okafor doesn’t fit”, he could be traded. Does anyone remember the Charles Barkley trade? I do. Don’t let history repeat itself, Philly.
Rookie center Jahlil Okafor is the talk of trades in the Philadelphia 76ers circles. Charles Barkley found himself in a similar situation 25 years ago.
"‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ – George Santayana"
Two bad teams. Two good players. Two players who had lots of rumors whispers and speculation about being a principal in a trade. One happened and one has yet to do so. One was a veteran of eight years, while one is a rookie. Both players played in the front court, one dominated at the power forward position, while the other is attempting to learn how to play there – having focused exclusively on center before the mid-point of his first and only year with the Philadelphia 76ers. One ended his rookie season with 14.0 points per game with 54.5% accuracy, and 8.6 rebounds per game, while the other ended his rookie season prematurely, but is scoring 17.5 points per game on 50.8% accuracy, and 7.0 rebounds per game. Two players who can deliver incredible things to the team they play for. One was traded, one is at risk of a similar fate. Both have some elements that needed refinement.
Forward Charles Barkley has always been a very outspoken individual, and can really amp it up from the moment a microphone is held up to him. He has always said what is on his mind. He played for a struggling Philadelphia 76ers team that missed the playoffs in 1992 for just the second time in seventeen season. And he let the fans, the media, and therefore, his team, know that he was not happy to be carrying the team on his shoulders. He was the size of a small forward in the NBA, listed at 6′ 6″ but his 250+ pound muscular frame was closer to 6′ 5″. But he could out-rebound much taller men.
It was that audacity that made his so dangerous on the basketball court, and also made him so dangerous off the court as well. When Barkley arrived to the Sixers, he had the opportunity to play with, and be mentored by, Sixers legend Moses Malone. Under the tutelage of Malone, Barkley was able to manage his weight and learned to prepare and condition himself properly for a game, and how to use his physicality to outplay larger guys in the post. Even in his rookie season, the team knew that he would be special, particularly in the company of Malone, Julius Erving, and Maurice Cheeks.
More from History
- Philadelphia 76ers: Top 10 Sixers busts since 2000
- Philadelphia 76ers Ten Biggest Mistakes of the Last Ten Years
- Philadelphia 76ers: Best trade in team history with Washington Wizards
- 6 Worst Philadelphia 76ers starters of the Allen Iverson era
- Are 76ers using page from past for ‘Twin Towers’ lineup
Center Jahlil Okafor has never been an outspoken person, but has also shown a quiet dominance when he steps onto the basketball court. Despite joining a team of no true stars, Okafor became the teams top scorer on day one by scoring 26 points and pulling in 7 rebounds on opening night against the perennial nemesis, the Boston Celtics in TD Garden. For the remainder of the season, he was held to fewer than 10 points only four times. He is a throwback to the centers of old, showing a physicality and willingness to work the post hard to get a shot he likes. Despite being one of the lone offensive weapons, Okafor continued to score, only being held in check when injury forced him to sit out.
But in Okafor’s case, the voice that is likely being heard is the rising volume from the masses, particularly Sixers fans, who have patiently awaited the team to show any signs of improvement this season. Finding none, they want visible signs of effort from the front office – starting with trading Okafor to make room and opportunity for returning to health center Joel Embiid and rim protecting defensive standout Nerlens Noel. In his rookie season, Jahlil Okafor has accomplished what few others have in their first season in the NBA. But the rumors of his trade have become part of the background whispers from the moment he was drafted to play for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Next: You Betta Shop Around
My Momma Told Me You Betta Shop Around
When the Sixers shopped Charles Barkley in 1992, the perception was that he no longer fit in the locker room, that the team would be better with younger fresher talented players and that he would wear out his welcome with any team that traded for him. And so, after much wheeling and dealing, the team accepted a trade with the Phoenix Suns, a package offered by none other than general manager Jerry Colangelo, to send Barkley to the Phoenix Suns and in exchange the Sixers would get: Tim Perry, 27, a 6-foot-9 forward who played at Temple University; Jeff Hornacek, 29, a versatile 6-4 guard who led the Suns in scoring the previous season and was in the All-Star Game; Andrew Lang, 25, a 6-11 center of modest offensive ability whose specialties are shot-blocking and rebounding. Sixers fans applauded the trade, thrilled to be getting so much for one disgruntled player. Even newcomer head coach Doug Moe applauded the move:
"“Sure, I’d love to have Charles if everything was right with the team. A couple of years ago, the situation was different. He was different.We’re excited about the trade because we get a little younger, add some depth. Though you hate to lose a guy with the potential to carry a team to a championship, unfortunately that would have been difficult with what’s passed under the bridge.” – Sixers head coach Doug Moe"
But history has a different interpretation – The Suns Best Trade Ever: Charles Barkley Becomes A Sun.
Barkley would go on to play just four seasons with the Phoenix Suns, but they changed the NBA landscape with their fast paced precursor to the small ball which defines the style of some of the NBA’s best teams today. He would continue on to play for the Houston Rockets for another four years. All told, he played 16 seasons in the NBA. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers got one year out of point guard Andrew Lang, one and two thirds seasons out of Jeff Hornacek, and three seasons out of Tim Perry. Everyone agrees the haste of the Sixers to trade an incredibly talented player led to one of the most lopsided trades in the history of the NBA, one the Sixers lost.
Next: You Can't Go Back
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
Evolve, not Dissolve
So what alternatives do the team have to exercise? Why MUST we do anything? The team carried a rehabbing Joel Embiid on the roster for two years. Does carrying a trio of very talented players hurt the team for another year? Or does it give the team an option of wowing the entire NBA by going with a skyscraper lineup of Embiid, Okafor, and Noel on the floor simultaneously? Could the team place a sweet passing player like Dario Saric on the floor as well and experiment? They have won nine games. It’s time to go bold, take the training wheels off of the team and see just how much horsepower is under the hood. Then, if experiments fail, use those lessons learned to make far more intelligent and meaningful decisions.
Holding onto Okafor after Joel Embiid returns gives the team the chance to mesh three high quality players. It gives the team the opportunity to see what the second year of Jahlil Okafor’s NBA career will reveal. It gives the team a chance to evolve, not revolt, the front court into that blend which will carry the team into the future. The stakes are FAR TOO HIGH to place a side wager on the career of Jahlil Okafor in the belief that 76er general manager Sam Hinkie can outsmart another NBA general manager once more. Another draft pick gives the Sixers even more pain as they struggle to develop all of the young talent currently on the roster. Trading for another player gives the Sixers a risk of ending up on the short end of a blockbuster trade.
Wait, and let the urgency of the team staring at a fading chance at competing in the NBA playoffs drive the price up on each of the team’s front court standouts. Wait and let the team see firsthand what the capabilities are of the second year center out of Duke University. Wait and see how the returning Joel Embiid holds up to the demands of his first NBA season. Wait and see how the 2017 draft projects at next year’s trade deadline.
Next: Don't Stop Believing
Don’t Stop Believing
Wait a minute. The guy who fleeced the Philadelphia 76ers all those years ago, Jerry Colangelo, has a message to get you through the dark moments now, to help you resist the urge to just start shedding the ballast of the current roster in a desperate hope to find buoyancy in a new lineup, a new roster.
"I’m a firm believer that basketball is the greatest team game ever invented. The excitement comes from knowing, with my experience, how players develop. Where are they going to be at 22 or 24 or 26? We have a bright, bright future. We’re watching young players develop. We’re anticipating a lot of good things to happen in the very near future. If the stars are aligned and you have a little bit of luck, we could turn this thing around much faster, much quicker than people seem to believe it’s going to take. When this opportunity presented itself, I saw it as a challenge. I saw it as someone who believed that I had something to offer the organization in the way of credibility, in the way of experience. And I was glad to come in and share and be part of something around. And I believe this is a situation that is a lot closer than people think. If you treat people well, you give people room and the ability to make decisions, and you create a team effort – and it starts at the top, and it permeates throughout an organization – I think that’s really the way you build a franchise. I can’t over-emphasize how important fan support is to a franchise. And I’m asking you to continue to support this franchise. It’s very, very important for us at this critical time. A new step in our journey. The commitment is there, I can promise you that. I’ll do everything in my power to help make this successful and as quick as possible without jeopardizing our future. I have a personal request. I am saying to you: Don’t give it up. There’s one way to go, and that’s up, and it’s going to be fun building it. – Jerry Colangelo"
The urgency to trade Jahlil Okafor is as artificial as the urgency to trade Charles Barkley was so many years ago. If we wait, we might find the answer delivers itself to our doorstep, rather than knock at the doors of each NBA team until one opens. If we wait, the only risk we incur is the risk of discovering that Jahlil Okafor is a solid core member of the championship team we have tried for so long to build.
Next: Shaq Guarantees Sixers Won't Draft Simmons in 2016 NBA Draft
There is a time to cast off, and a time to stay close. This is the time to rally around our players. If we believe, they won’t have any choice but to believe as well. We’ve come too far to stop believing now.