The Sixer Sense
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Jahlil Okafor the Biggest Loser of Deadline Day

By Josh Wilson

Feb 1, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) passes the ball during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeat the 76ers 113-95. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 1, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor (8) passes the ball during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeat the 76ers 113-95. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor wasn’t traded at the NBA trade deadline, and that may have made him the biggest loser of Thursday’s events.

The Philadelphia 76ers made their move at the NBA trade deadline. Personally, I thought they were going to keep quiet and keep all of their big men, despite how much of an issue that’s been for them. With only 26 games remaining after the All-Star break and trade deadline, I figured at this point, it didn’t hurt that much to just ride out the rest of the year with all of the big men.

I was surprised, in more ways than one.

First of all, I was surprised to see a trade. Second of all, I was surprised to see Nerlens Noel traded after all of the talk of Jahlil Okafor being the guy to go. Thirdly, I was surprised to see the tiny value that came from Noel being shopped out, as he was, in the eyes of most, a decent rim protector that could be a value to any competitive team.

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With all of that in mind, there are some obvious losers of deadline day. Fans who wanted to see Okafor out lost. Bryan Colangelo, who said time after time that he would not take a bad deal for the team, had to give in and lost in that regard. The Sixers as a whole may have lost their defensive identity by shipping Noel out.

But above all, Jahlil Okafor was the loser of the trade. How? By not being traded.

Philly wasn’t right for him or Noel

Let’s be honest, after the emergence of Joel Embiid, we all began to take both Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel for granted. Certainly, Noel was more appreciated by a majority of Sixers fans, but he was still looked at as a piece that wasn’t much of anything good to the team, at least when you use Embiid as a reference point.

That, very well, may have been why the team got such a little value for him. Moving forward, neither of the big men not named Joel Embiid were going to be of too much importance, and teams knew that.

As far as Okafor is concerned, this city has been troublesome for him from the beginning. Okafor got into multiple instances of trouble since moving to Philadelphia, including a reported fake ID issue at a club, a fight outside of a club where a gun was reportedly pulled on him, and getting pulled over for going 108 miles per hour in his car on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Aside from that, the offense never really worked for Okafor. The most we saw it do for him was in the beginning of the season last year, as the team seemed to try to put pieces around him to space the game. Overall, however, they failed, and overall, they had too many working pieces to also try to fit Okafor in. In the end, you need a very specific type of offense to make Okafor effective, and the Sixers didn’t have the luxury of being able to create that.

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Additionally, his defensive lapses on a team that struggled defensively last year were exploited to the maximum.

Philadelphia was never right for Okafor, so to see him not get moved is tough for his career and his personal life.

Okafor was so close to going home

Speaking of his personal life, and all NBA players’ personal lives, that can be a huge factor in performance. It’s no secret that players can deal with things that happen off the court and have it affect how they play on the court. While it’s not the best excuse for poor play — most jobs expect you to keep your personal life and professional life separate, and pro sports should be the same — it does explain some of the struggles Okafor went through this year.

Okafor has had a tough year, and had to deal with seeing and hearing a lot of rumors about himself. That is troubling for a young player who hasn’t had to deal with that before, and although he dealt with it well on the outside, it’s clear that internally he was struggling.

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I think it was clear based on what he showed on the floor. While statistically, he was putting up about the same type of numbers that he was last year, it was evident on the floor that playing in Philly was not fun for him. In a way, that’s very sad. Okafor was a good player who came into the league with a lot of passion. But this team, and this culture, really took its toll on him, and we saw his passion begin to wane.

So when Okafor heard that Chicago was one of the teams that was rumored to be heavily interested in Okafor, he was probably interested, since that is his hometown. In fact, it was rumored to be his location of preference. Going home and being around family and in a familiar environment can mean a world of difference for a player. Okafor would have been able to go home and collect his thoughts, while also looking at his game and what to improve. Just the sole thought of being back home and being somewhere he was comfortable could have meant a world of difference for Okafor. Instead, he’s left no different than before the deadline.

He’s going to be looked down upon until he is on another team

With all of that said, Okafor could have gone into a better role, and a more comfortable place after the deadline. Instead, he comes back to Philadelphia, more uncomfortable than ever, and with no signs of improving. Of course, naturally, he will have more opportunities to prove himself with Nerlens Noel gone and more minutes available to him, but that by no means changes the fact that this place is not a good one for him.

Philadelphia isn’t right for Okafor, and Okafor isn’t right for Philadelphia. Trust me, Okafor is a good player, and given a different roster structure and the right people around him, he can be good. In Philadelphia, though, that’s not the case, and until he is moved, he is going to be looked at as a second or third tier NBA player, something he may very well be better than.

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The long lasting impact of this bad role for Okafor could be huge. The league could look at Okafor incredibly poorly because of how long he has been, and will be, with Philadelphia.