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Philadelphia 76ers: After Two Games It Is Settled, Jahlil Okafor Needs To Go

By Nicholas Gonzalez

Oct 29, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) moves toward the net as Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) defends during the first quarter of the game at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 29, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) moves toward the net as Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap (4) defends during the first quarter of the game at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Philadelphia 76ers have only played two games this season but it’s well evident that, even in this small sample size, Jahlil Okafor needs to be traded

In three of the last four drafts, the Philadelphia 76ers have elected to go with a big. They used the third pick to get Joel Embiid in 2014, the second Pick to get Jahlil Okafor in 2015 and traded for the 6th pick/rights to the sixth pick in Nerlens Noel in 2013.

All have played very well in their own right, even Embiid who we are just seeing play for the first time. The real question that has been lingering for 1-2 seasons now is who gets traded? I think it’s an easy decision and it should be Okafor.

Let’s use logic here to break this down for a second.

Noel is a defensive anchor and by far the best defender out of all of them. You are always gonna need a defensive anchor or at least a good rim protector, so if you are building a contender Noel NEEDS to stay.

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Embiid by FAR has the most upside of them all and isn’t a bad defender from what we have seen either. Embiid can also get buckets from anywhere on the court it seems like. Now, if they were to trade Embiid, they wouldn’t get as much as you would think because of his injury history.

So, it is in their best interest to keep him even though in theory he has the most value on the market of the three.

That leaves Jahlil Okafor. Don’t get me wrong, Okafor is good, but we knew he was a low ceiling/high floor kinda guy when he got drafted.

He is lethargic, slow-footed and struggles to get back on defense. He doesn’t fit playing with Embiid or Noel who are both up-tempo, and he most definitely won’t fit with Ben Simmons. Also, his 17/7 type of production is much easier to find than let’s say, Noel’s 10/8 production but elite defense. Embiid can score just as well as Okafor but can do much more overall including score in more ways.

Okafor needs to get points in order to have an impact on a game; he is an offensive player. This means that whenever he comes in the game off the bench because Embiid is starting, the probability of him putting up a shot every time he gets the ball is extremely high.

He is averaging about nine shots in the first two games while only averaging 15.5 MPG. That’s a little under a shot a minute. He also isn’t being efficient only shooting 35 percent from the floor, so they aren’t smart shots either. These would good stats for a role player if he can get his efficiency up, but I doubt the former second overall pick wants to already regress to a role player at 20 when he has shown signs of stardom.

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Not only is Okafor not a great fit for the current roster composition of the Philadelphia 76ers, but he isn’t for many teams in the current NBA. The latter makes him so much harder to trade, so it will be interesting to see what Philly actually does. I think the bottom line is that Jahlil Okafor should be moved. Obviously not for change, but he is the odd man out of the three Sixers big men.