Philadelphia 76ers: Nerlens Noel Numbering His Own Days

The Philadelphia 76ers media day opened up but not before an intriguing interview between Nerlens Noel and Philly.com’s Keith Pompey. Noel seems to be uneasy about the front court situation.

The Philadelphia 76ers clearly have a problem at center. Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor, and Joel Embiid were at some point viewed the top big men in their respective draft class. It was a known fact that a problem would arise once Embiid would become healthy, and the wait to see what would be done ensued.

The wait is still on. And it seems to be taking somewhat of a toll on Nerlens Noel. He expresses to Pompey that he thinks “it’s just silly . . . this situation that we are in now with three starting centers”. But of course it’s silly. It’s silly to win just 10 games and be at the bottom of the league for three years straight. The whole rebuild was “silly” in a ways but it had a main focus.

To find a star.

The Philadelphia 76ers took Jahlil Okafor in the 2015 NBA Draft with the sole intention that he would become a star. Whether it took 3 center draftees or 6 center draftees in a row, the organization wouldn’t have stopped without finding a star. Noel goes on to say that the three centers on the same team would not work to the team’s advantage:

"“I think at the end of the day, again, you have three starting-caliber centers. And it’s just not going to work to anybody’s advantage having that on the same team. That’s how I’m looking at it. I’m not opposed to anything, but things need to be situated.”"

This is taking away any hope that Noel and Okafor could play on the same court at the same time. After a season of struggles for the pair, they still did show some promise. Looking back at film it’s clear to see that there is some foundation of the pair working together.

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Okafor’s spacing when Noel has the ball isn’t terrible, and the two can actually have a successful two man game when it comes to passing the ball down low. Okafor has had just 53 games to develop and Noel is coming off his second season in the NBA, so there is still time for them to gel together. But Noel isn’t taking that view.

You can understand his frustration after being thrown into the trade rumor mill continuously for close to a year now. It’s hard to hear your name in rumors after you give an organization all the effort you have in your young career.

"“We’ve gone from zero and we are not at 100,” Noel said. “We went from zero and things are still building here. . . . I think I sacrificed a lot. And at this point, there’s really not too much that I’m capable of sacrificing.”"

Noel seems to have “checked out” to a point. He wants to win now. While the Philadelphia 76ers are moving towards that trend, the timeline calls for at least one or two more seasons of failure. Colangelo has said the team wasn’t “aggressively shopping” anyone, but the fact is there needs to be a move soon.

This could also be a “call to be traded” from Noel. He’s going into the final year of his rookie contract and could reap bigger financial benefits playing for another organization. More playing time would equal more money, so leaving the Philadelphia 76ers would benefit more than not.

In fairness, Noel all so went on to say that this disappointment doesn’t affect his relationship with his big men teammates or his performance on the court. Noel is an expressive guy but some times it’s better to keep his frustrations to himself.

“And at this point, there’s really not too much that I’m capable of sacrificing.” – Noel

Bryan Colangelo has stated throughout media day that these comments won’t affect or insinuate a move. It has to be uneasy for the new President of Basketball Operations to manage the feelings of one of the three young centers at the root of this problem. Colangelo has remained adamant that the team won’t undersell for one of these valuable prospects.

Veterans have been taking notice of Noel’s unwillingness to remain positive through this situation. Elton Brand tried to tell Noel to be around the group more instead of secluding himself.

There seems to be a common thread going on throughout the Philadelphia 76ers. Noel is continuing to distance himself from the team while Okafor has done the exact opposite. The Summer League incident that saw Noel skip out on team events, the twitter fiasco where his love for his hometown Boston was proclaimed then removing anything Philadelphia related from his bio. It could be that Noel has just given up on the franchise giving back to him, which happens.

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Nerlens Noel could be trying to number his own days with the organization. You can’t blame him too much. Players want to be in a situation that benefits themselves more than the team, and right now that’s not the place for the Philadelphia 76ers. The mismanagement and continued leaks of trade rumors is starting to take a toll, one big enough to sever the relationship between Noel and the Sixers.