NBA Rumors: Forget Discounting Jahlil Okafor

Despite a commitment of the Philadelphia 76ers front office to keep the front court intact until a legitimate offer is made, new NBA Rumors have Jahlil Okafor being traded to the San Antonio Spurs at a deep discount.

What is it with the NBA nowadays? Mention a Philadelphia 76ers center, and suddenly the “fire sale” light illuminates, and the offers for the services of Jahlil Okafor, or Nerlens Noel, become far less than their original draft position – despite proving that they can play, and play very well, in a very competitive basketball league. Has the NBA become the “no bartering ability” league when I was not looking?

Just as I was about to shut down for a few hours, another trade rumor popped up, this time linking Jahlil Okafor to the San Antonio Spurs. The intriguing aspect of this trade scenario? The author’s presumption that the Philadelphia 76ers will take any offers now.

More from Rumors

Seriously?

The latest story from Yibada’s Malcolm Hyde suggests that the Philadelphia 76ers are lowering the price tag to rid themselves of one of their star centers.

"At that time, the Sixers were still demanding the moon and the stars for Okafor (or even Noel for that matter) as they wanted even more than the no.3 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft for Okafor when they were reportedly discussing with the Boston Celtics.But now, the price tag for Okafor has dropped considerably. The Sixers must accept that they can’t get star value for him. Dollinger dropped the names of point guard Patty Mills, an Australian like Ben Simmons and/or Kyle Anderson as possible returns. Mills fills a positional need for the team and Anderson could be a helpful veteran wing."

To put this in perspective, point guard Patty Mills is a seven year veteran with a career scoring average of 7.5 points per game in 81 appearances and only three starts. Small Forward Kyle Anderson offers even less, with just 4.5 points per game in 78 games played and just 11 starts. Anderson was the 30th selection of the 2014 NBA draft, while Mills was the 55th pick from the 2009 NBA draft. Combined, their offensive output does not come close to Jahlil Okafor’s 17.5 points per game.

Let’s set the record straight. In a weak draft, the Boston Celtics demanded both the 3rd round player from the previous year’s draft – Jahlil Okafor – PLUS the first round top-three-protected pick from the Los Angeles Lakers, which if conveyed in 2017, will bring a much more valuable player.

To suggest that the 76ers wanted to convert the 2015 NBA Draft choice for the 2016 NBA draft pick at the same slot as the “moon and the stars” is very misrepresentative. The Philadelphia 76ers, having had workouts with several key draft prospects, were understandably in converting depth at the center position to redistribute talent at another position.

But the timing drove the urgency. There is nothing to be gained by giving away the Philadelphia 76ers players at this point in time.

On a similar front, the Boston Celtics are reportedly not interested in offering fair market value for Jahlil Okafor either.

NBA rumors: The Celtics aren't willing to give up much to get Jahlil Okafor from 76ers https://t.co/6EntxzcaP5 pic.twitter.com/xQXdPhNukb
— The Crossover (@TheCrossover) July 22, 2016

As reported by Philly.com Keith Pompey, trading Okafor to the Celtics just for the sake of trading him makes zero sense for the 76ers. The idea of the team being desperate to trade one of their centers is likely a result of continued statements to the effect by both Bryan Colangelo and Brett Brown that the team would likely not start the season with three centers.

We made note of this unwise path months ago, and we continue to believe that there is no deal worth making at this point in the season. Joel Embiid will have limits as to frequency and duration of his playing time. Nerlens Noel is defensive oriented, but has the right athleticism to become more versatile as a player, even to the point of defending at the perimeter. Jahlil Okafor needs more than a 53 game audition to cement his trajectory. Considering his track so far was seldom with a starting point guard and was also torn between center and power forward as well.

Trading for the sake of trading at this point is senseless. Nothing received by the Philadelphia 76ers has a guarantee of making the roster, so the team is essentially giving away a 20 point per game player – for nothing.

I know that there are some deals which are truly head scratchers, but this is borderline absurdity. The Philadelphia 76ers have finally assembled a team with enough talent as to make the bench a hot spot for NBA starting caliber players. The same team that struggled to find enough players to field a full starting roster with reserves to play games in the 2015-2016 season should not rush to dump invaluable talent.

Next: Have Philadelphia 76ers Overlooked Small Forward?

There will come a moment when a trade is suited. At the 2017 trade deadline, NBA teams desperate to make the playoffs will talk differently about the Philadelphia 76ers depth. Then the time to consider offers may be worthwhile.

You can never have too much of a good thing in the NBA. Both Okafor and Embiid are recovering from injuries, and we’ve yet to see how they stand up in the post game to the crashing big bodies.

Sometimes patience is more than a virtue, it’s self-preservation.