If the Philadelphia 76ers could have gotten value for Jahlil Okafor in a trade, they would have done it by now. Jahlil Okafor‘s value is so low it makes him untradeable.
This off season has been one of renewed optimism around the Philadelphia 76ers. The Process is finally coming full circle with the drafting of Markelle Fultz and the signing of big name free agent in J.J. Redick. On top of that, the Eastern Conference has gotten significantly weaker during this offseason.
All things are looking up for the Sixers, except the fact that they still have Jahlil Okafor on the roster. This is not a knock on Okafor, as he’s a skilled post score that still has plenty of potential in the league. He is just stuck behind a blooming superstar in Joel Embiid. Okafor deserves a chance where he can have a chance at legit playing time. Recently it has become evident that it is almost impossible to trade the reserve and get any value in at all. It is hard to imagine that president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo would wait this long to trade Okafor for nothing. This makes Okafor untradeable until Philadelphia can increase his trade value.
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Why Okafor Cannot Be Traded
There is a number why the Philadelphia 76ers have had a hard time trading the big man. The first being that he is a old school center. Now do not be mistaken, old school big men still exist and are very effective. Al Jefferson and Zach Randolph come to mind. However, they both have a secondary skill that to compliment there back to the basket style of play. Okafor so far has low stats in rebounding, defending, and assists which shows he has no real secondary skill as of yet. He could develop one in time, he has been dealing with knee injuries for most of his young career.
The other reason is that the Sixers have a high asking price for the type of center he is. Yes, it is understandable that a front office would want high value for the 2015 third overall pick. His rookie was nothing to bat an eye at either.
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Generated 7/3/2017.
His surface stats look very nice, but his injury history combined with the small ball world of the NBA are major mark downs on his trade value.
Failed opportunities
The Philadelphia 76ers have had two recent opportunites to trade the big man and failed to execute a trade. Okafor could been thrown into the either draft trades as a icing on the deal but they weren’t able to do so. Fans would have been fine seeing Okafor in the trade for the first overall pick or the deal that landed the Sixers the 25th pick.
The Sixers also failed most recently in free agency when they signed Amir Johnson. Before they agreed to the deal, there were talks that they were involved in a sign-and-trade with Okafor, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
A sign-and-trade is one of the easiest ways of trading an unwanted player. Yet the Sixers have still failed to execute a trade. Details of why they trade did not happen were not given by Wojnarowski, but an educated guess would be that the 76ers where asking for too much.
How To Make Okafor Tradeable
It is clear that at the current status of everything involving Okafor makes him pretty untradeable. Hope is not completely lost, there are ways that the Philadelphia 76ers can make him a tradeable player. The Sixers could bring down there asking price for the old school big man. This is not a good idea and will not be well received by fans, but if the Sixers really want to unload the big man they could take a below value deal for him.
The better way is to hold on for Okafor and have his as the primary back up behind Embiid. This will allow Okafor to show improvement in his game and the fact that he is healthy. This will improve his trade value immensely and should allow the Sixers to receive their asking price for the former Duke Blue Devil. I also touched on increasing Okafor’s value in the article below as well.
Next: Sixers’ frontcourt depth post-Johnson signing
The Philadelphia 76ers still have plenty of time to turn the Jahlil Okafor trade market around. Sixer fans and Okafor may have to show patience in the meantime.