Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor May Be Traded This Off-Season

Jerry Colangelo is a no-nonsense guy trying to build a winning culture in Philadelphia. Recent events in the lives of both Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor lay doubt whether they fit that Colangelo Culture going forward

Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it. Well, Philadelphia 76ers fans, the rule of Jerry Colangelo has begun with the thunder of Sam Hinkie’s thirteen page resignation mysteriously being leaked to the media, and the lightning speed by which Jerry Colangelo has acted to replace the still warm seat of the President and General Manager’s role with that of his son, Bryan Colangelo.

So far, the debate has been about the death or continuance of the Process. To be fair, the “Process” was the creation of Sam Hinkie, was his strategy to forego short term gains in the ultimate goal of long term success. That, for all intents and purposes, is no longer the future of the Philadelphia 76ers.

In its place is the rule of the iron handed Jerry Colangelo. Open to suggestions from the fans, he is one of the more approachable executives to ever run an NBA team. But he is a disciplinarian. When you are “in” his good graces, he considers you one of the family. He listens intently, he notes concerns and frictions, and then he uses his authority to relieve those concerns. As long as you are “in”, Jerry Colangelo is a strong advocate and ally to have.

But cross the line? The man is swift and decisive in his discipline. In an interview with ESPN’s Jemelle Hill, Jerry Colangelo was asked about discipline in the NBA:

"So how have the new policies — the dress code and the increased number of technical fouls for players who argue with officials — helped the NBA bridge the gap with the mainstream?First of all when you have a system, you have to have rules. You have to have regulations. And so when something goes astray — be it a player or a fight — how players look, how they act, if you need to deal with it in terms of discipline, you need to. Everybody has the same interests at heart. How do we continue to improve our game and the image of our players? It’s by having rules and rules of conduct. As far as the dress code is concerned, we had gone so far the other way. We had let it go so much, it was less than appealing — let’s put it that way. The image that was out there regarding our players in terms of how they look, what they said, how they acted was not positive, even though it was embellished a lot. – Jerry Colangelo"

If the goal of Jerry Colangelo is to build a culture of winning, disciplined, and ready to take appropriate action, then it falls to reason that both Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel are vulnerable in this rapid revolution that is happening in Philadelphia right now.

Colangelo has had discipline problems before, most notably an incindent where a frustrated Robert Horry throwing a towel in head coach Danny Ainge‘s face in 1997.

"“I’m of the old school, so I would have taken much sterner action if we weren’t limited by the bargaining agreement,” Colangelo said, comparing Horry to an unruly child and calling him “a shadow of his former self” as a player. “My belief is that it was really frustration with his own play because his play has been sporadic at best and is very disappointing, from my point of view.” – 1997 interview with Jerry Colangelo."

At the time, the matter resulted in a two game suspension for Horry. The penalty was worth about $40,000 in salary and a few thousand dollars in fines. Colangelo wanted a harsher punishment.

And now, nearly 20 years later, the “old-school” man is in charge of the youngest team in the NBA. And like a principal of a high school, he will be just fine as long as nobody is sent to the principal’s office. Ooops! Two names have appeared on that list this year: Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor.

Jahlil Okafor’s problems early in the season are known and well documented. Listen, young man in a new city away from home and with lots of money to burn, “incidents” happen. But the team is trying to turn away from the chaos of bad imagery, and reposition itself as a place where only good things happen both on and off the basketball court. The events were so damning that it precipitated the arrival of Jerry Colangelo, and subsequently assistant head coach Mike D’Antoni, and even the signing of power forward Elton Brand.

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Colangelo has spoken about Okafor in the past:

"“What I’ve tried to do is encourage him and talk about what this is all about. There’s a lot at stake as it relates to a career and a future.Encouragement is basically the bottom line, and saying, ‘Look, everyone makes mistakes, and you have to learn from those mistakes on the floor and off. Just tune in.” – Jerry Colangelo as interviewed by Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer on February 13, 2016"

Had the discipline issues ended there, it might have been forgotten. But on April 8, 2016, the other “big man” Nerlens Noel was reportedly sued for destruction of private property based on a home he had rented. The owners of that property have claimed $75,000 in damages to the property, and to threats of a gravestone left on the property with RIP and crossbones. While lawsuits are rather common place, particularly in the lives of celebrities who are known to have deeper pockets than most, this news comes on the heels of the “takeover” of the Sixers by the Colangelo family. The first bit of news is once more about disciplinary issues on the team.

Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor make up two thirds of the three player logjam of the Philadelphia 76ers. It was this fact alone, more than any other issue, that caused analysts and NBA traditionalists to rip into the perceived poor planning of the Philadelphia 76ers. But the problem is not easily resolved in the resignation of Sam Hinkie. Instead, the issue could compound the matter for the new general manager as he arrives.

Without history, he will not know the true value of the players he is now controlling. In fact, his knowledge base will be entirely dependent upon the assessments and briefings of his father, Jerry. But the fact of the matter is that we know Jerry Colangelo is now “large and in charge”, that he is self-admittedly old school, and that he is trying to turn around the Philadelphia 76ers from a casual group of guys into a disciplined well-honed basketball team.

Right now, he needs to get the attention of the NBA. Hiring his son Bryan has not done much more than call into question his entire association with the Philadelphia 76ers, his motivations, and the overall direction of the team. He is not afraid to make deals, and right now he needs one to set the tone of the team moving forward. Sam Hinkie is gone. Bryan Colangelo is now on his way. The Philadelphia 76ers have a logjam at the center position, but for how long? By my estimation, not very.

Next: Sam Hinkie Innovated More Than Player Selection

We used to debate the matter of who will be traded going forward, Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel. I now have a third scenario. I can see a scenario playing out where both are traded. Will that be the wise choice? Will that place too much court time on Joel Embiid? I think it’s not all about winning championships anymore. I think, for now, it’s about establishing who is in charge of this team. We’ve seen how the first order of business of a new regime in professional sports in Philadelphia is to undo the transactions of the previous regime. While the scenario only works if the Sixers receive palatable offers for each player, I can see that occuring. Both are NBA ready, both have great skills which can immediately contribute to a playoff-bound teams chances, and both have made the headlines of the news for all the wrong reasons.

It’s no longer shot charts and basketball analytics in Philadelphia. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we all move in the same direction. Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor were both brought onto the team as centers. That is the same position projected for Joel Embiid on this team, which makes both players convertable assets. The NBA is a results oriented business. I believe we are about to find out just what that means in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, we will have happy moments. NBA lottery night, NBA draft night. It’s not over until its over.

UPDATED WITH BRYAN COLANGELO Press Conference:

"You can only have so many developing players on your roster, so there may be some decisions to defer some of those to future years, there may be a decision to package some of those things to acquire players that make sense and fit our strategy."

Unless you are a Philadelphia 76er player appearing on TMZ Sports. Then, you might want to start packing. After all, this team can only have “so many developing players”.