Philadelphia 76ers: Ranking first round picks for the past 10 years
9. Nerlens Noel
The Philadelphia 76ers kick started “The Process” by trading All-Star Jrue Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans for the draft rights to Nerlens Noel, the sixth pick of the 2013 NBA Draft. Sadly, he wasn’t able to stick through the whole “Process”.
Noel missed the full first year of his career due to a knee injury. When he finally did play the following season, he showed real flashes as an elite defensive player. During his rookie year, the 6-foot-10 center averaged 9.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.9 blocks. Despite being an active player defensively, Noel struggled with stronger/bigger players and was very limited as an offensive player.
Must Read. Ranking every player on the roster (April 2020). light
Noel was a solid enough center, but he wasn’t a franchise big man and he eventually lost minutes to the guy who has become the franchise center. It becomes apparent that the Sixers were going to have to trade Noel but they were only able to get Justin Anderson, Andrew Bogut, and two second round picks from the Dallas Mavericks.
Noel is now a quality backup on the Oklahoma City Thunder after things in Dallas didn’t work out. Noel probably could be starting for a handful of teams, but a team is in a really good spot if they can have him as their backup.