The Sixer Sense
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How the Center Position Needs to Improve in 2016 for Sixers

By Josh Wilson

Oct 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (left) and center Jahlil Okafor (right) watch from the bench during the final minutes of a game against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center. The Utah Jazz won 99-71. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (left) and center Jahlil Okafor (right) watch from the bench during the final minutes of a game against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center. The Utah Jazz won 99-71. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (left) and center Jahlil Okafor (right) watch from the bench during the final minutes of a game against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center. The Utah Jazz won 99-71. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (left) and center Jahlil Okafor (right) watch from the bench during the final minutes of a game against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center. The Utah Jazz won 99-71. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Last season, we saw two distinct periods from the center position for the Sixers. The Okafor period, and the Noel period.

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Jahlil Okafor started the season as center, with Nerlens Noel slotted at the power forward spot. Okafor had just come off of playing center at Duke, and Nerlens Noel had reportedly been working on his jump shot in his hometown over the summer, which was supposed to lead to him becoming a more effective four.

Unfortunately, that’s not how it played out. Noel struggled immensely from the four spot, and partway through the season, Okafor and Noel were removed from being in overlapping lineups because of this.

After a while, the duo was placed in the same lineup again, but instead of Noel playing as the power forward, Okafor was placed there. This was less troubling for Okafor than it was for Noel when he was at the four. Since Okafor had some solid ball-handling skills for a player with such big hands, he did fairly decent in the four spot, but still would have been more effective as a center.

Moving forward, with Ben Simmons and Dario Saric joining the team, both players who are versatile power forwards, one would expect that the Sixers are going to move Okafor and Noel to be the team’s centers.

One added portion to the Sixers’ center position last season was Richaun Holmes. Holmes often played garbage minutes, and played more often at the four than the center. His performance in the center slot was practically negligible.

Next: Upcoming season