As if you couldn’t have guessed this from the multitude of “DNP: Coach’s Decision” absences that Jahlil Okafor is racking up, the Philadelphia 76ers still don’t have plans to make him part of their big picture.
As a result, according to ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes, both the player and team are working together to find the 21-year-old a new home:
With Jahlil Okafor‘s role further diminishing, his representatives and the Philadelphia 76ers are collaborating to find a suitable trade for the young center, league sources tell ESPN.
Sixers coach Brett Brown informed the local media on Friday that Okafor is currently out of the rotation and that the second-unit spot is Amir Johnson‘s to lose. The frontcourt logjam of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric leaves Okafor expendable.
If Okafor isn’t getting minutes now, he’s never going to get them. Amir Johnson isn’t good enough to prioritize over the development of a young player you wish to keep, and playing time up front will only get more sparse once Richaun Holmes returns from his wrist injury.
The rub: The Sixers don’t appear willing to just give away Okafor, who was drafted third overall in 2015. Sources told Haynes they’ll likely pick up his team option for next season if no trades materialize, suggesting they’re still hoping to capitalize on his departure.
It’s not yet clear what that even means, though. The NBA is oversaturated with big men. Scroll up and down the league’s depth charts, and you won’t find a bunch of openings for potential starting centers—let alone ones who don’t shoot threes or protect the rim or even pass very well.
Okafor could work in an Al Jefferson-type role off the bench, but teams aren’t forking over the moon to get a look at young second-stringers. The Sixers, in all likelihood, will have to take a bath on whatever value he holds.
Well that, or they’ll have to let his rookie-scale contract expire, knowing they’ve done nothing other than diminish his chances at sticking in the league long term.
