Bryan Colangelo himself said having Jahlil Okafor on the roster is an issue. When is it time to just cut him and get on with the Philadelphia 76ers future?
The Philadelphia 76ers have all done their exit interviews with the media, and the regular season officially has come to a close. Now, it’s onto things like the NBA Draft and free agency.
One of the other things that’s worth figuring out, though, is the situation in the frontcourt. The Sixers attempted to clear their frontcourt logjam at the NBA Trade Deadline this year, but really didn’t do an effective job. They ended up trading Nerlens Noel after weeks of rumors surrounding Okafor, and reports that the Sixers were close on multiple trades for Jah.
Now, with the season ending, Sixers President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo is showing some remorse for not sealing a deal with Okafor.
Colangelo told Derek Bodner and the rest of the media that he wouldn’t even consider the logjam resolved, specifically because Okafor is still on the roster. He also let Bodner know that he is working with Okafor’s agent.
Colangelo says he doesn't know if he'd ever call the big man logjam resolved while Okafor is on the roster. Says he's working with agent.
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) April 14, 2017
Likely, they’re working with his agent to find a landing location for him. Okafor and his agent can’t be happy, because he was once a third overall pick, and now is not being given the minutes to prove himself in the NBA. If he doesn’t find a new team, and soon, his future could be much less lucrative than if he’s able to carve out a niche with some other team in the NBA.
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The Sixers, on the other hand, certainly don’t benefit from keeping Okafor around. He hasn’t been good for them, and clearly doesn’t fit with the pieces in place. Some fans are beginning to get restless, and since there’s almost no market for Okafor at this point, some fans are asking if it would make sense for the Sixers to cut Okafor outright.
It’s a proposition that would be a huge bummer if you look at things from a standpoint of your initial investment, but in the here and now, it might be a positive. Some investments just don’t work, and some projections of players just don’t pan out.
Since Okafor was drafted with the third overall pick, it would be a negative for the team to give up a third overall pick without getting anything in return. At this point, however, there is not much evidence that there will be a return for Okafor in any situation.
You can’t trade Okafor for anything more than a second-round pick at this point (that was evident because of Noel’s trade value) and there’s no sign of that changing by the time his contract is up, meaning he would walk away from the team as a free agent with them getting nothing in return for him anyway.
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In the short term, if the Sixers were to waive him after, say, training camp, it opens a roster spot for them. With that, they could sign a young player they’re looking to develop in Shawn Long or Alex Poythress without feeling like they’re crammed for roster space. They could draft freely and even be open to certain free agency signings that they otherwise might not be.
Additionally, it would give the Sixers a chance to play Richaun Holmes more, who has been stellar in his first two seasons, especially comparatively with what the team gave up for him.
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I don’t think cutting Okafor is the right move at the moment, but if the Sixers get through the NBA Draft, free agency, and all the way to when they need to trim their roster to the maximum amount before the season, it’s not too out-there to perceive the team doing it.