Nerlens Noel has not been shy about voicing his distaste for the Philadelphia 76ers’ fronctourt pileup.
And yes, as the big man nears his return to the team’s rotation, that concerns head coach Brett Brown.
Per CSN Philly’s Jessica Camerato:
Brown is working to keep the team moving forward as a unit while still being aware of and recognizing Noel’s perspective.
“It does,” Brown said when asked if Noel’s open frustration concerns him as it pertains to team cohesiveness. “But I feel like it’s so much a part of what we try do around here that it’s not like you’re going to blink and you’ve forgotten something that equals camaraderie, that equals team, that equals trying to keep this together, and you’ve left it for a week …
“It’s a day-to-day focus for me and it’s a very candid conversation with me and the player. The team hears it, the individual hears it, we all understand it … We need to coexist and we need to understand the reality of it all, too. There’s a human side you understand. It’s also pride, it’s competitiveness, it’s do your job, it’s nothing is given, you’ve got to take stuff, draw your own line in the sand, competitors rule the day.”
It’s never good when a player seems so obviously displeased. Noel is entering his third year as an active player and hasn’t even made his season debut. The Sixers are young and rebuilding and searching for direction. If his disposition isn’t different while he’s around the team, it could prove infectious, putting a damper on the momentum the Sixers have built with Joel Embiid’s meteoric rise.
At the same time, you have to look at it from Noel’s perspective. The Sixers will ask him to play some power forward, which is not his position. He is a center. Just like Jahlil Okafor and Embiid. Minutes will be even tougher to juggle once Simmons returns from his foot injury.
Noel is also slated for restricted free agency this summer. He should have no trouble finding an offer sheet, but his value might be adversely impacted by a frontcourt logjam that isn’t conducive to him producing at the level he’s capable of. And then, when he eventually settles for what could be a below-market deal, the Sixers will have the right to match, leaving him at their mercy for possibly another four years or however long it takes them to trade him.
