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Sixers: Paging Bryan Colangelo, the Nerlens Noel Saga Must End

By Chuck Booth

Dec 14, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) and forward Nerlens Noel (M) and forward Ben Simmons (R) during a timeout in the second half against the Toronto Raptors at Wells Fargo Center. The Toronto Raptors won 123.114. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 14, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) and forward Nerlens Noel (M) and forward Ben Simmons (R) during a timeout in the second half against the Toronto Raptors at Wells Fargo Center. The Toronto Raptors won 123.114. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Sixers may have gotten a win on Sunday but it was overshadowed by Brett Brown’s comments regarding Nerlens Noel.

It was clear that the Noel situation was going south for the Sixers during the preseason as their center was unhappy to be part of a three-man rotation. Noel has also been unwilling to compromise and play power forward while wasting no time expressing his displeasure. During the summer Noel stated that he didn’t know how all three centers would get enough minutes this season and with how the past few weeks have gone, he was right.

Bryan Colangelo inherited a team with too many centers knowing that he would likely need to trade one or two of them either before the season or during the season. Noel was tabbed by many as the odd man out of the rotation due to his rookie deal expiring at the end of this season. In the offseason, Noel was linked to almost every team that needed help with their interior defense but Colangelo failed to pull the trigger.

Hindsight is 20/20 but it’s safe to say that not trading Noel during the summer was Colangelo’s first mistake as GM of the Sixers. He wasted an opportunity to get significant assets for an out of favor center and now it’s becoming a mess that is affecting the whole team.

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These issues came to a head on Friday against the Lakers. Brett Brown played Noel for a total of eight minutes and Noel wasted no time speaking out on it. After the game, Noel said, “I need to be on the court playing basketball. I think I’m too good to be playing 8 minutes. That’s crazy.” While he isn’t wrong due to how ineffective the pairing of Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor has been so far this season, he also shouldn’t be venting his feelings in such a public way.

Brown decided to punish Noel for his actions but he too went about it in the wrong way. Prior to Sunday’s game, Brown announced that Noel would be out of the Sixers rotation for the foreseeable future due to his comments. In his pregame presser, Brown proceeded to drop bombs saying,

"“I feel worse for Richaun (Holmes),” Brown told reporters before Sunday’s game. “When I put my human hat on and then you go coach a team, make decisions, show leadership, that stands out to me as much as anything. Nerlens missed everything. Twenty minutes before the game last week, I learned he was going to play. He hasn’t been a part of us.”"

That’s as close as it get’s to Brown criticizing Noel for not being a team player, something that Richaun Holmes has been during this time. Noel may get back into the rotation but Brown doesn’t seem to keen on that happening anytime soon.

Enter Bryan Colangelo:

Sixers
Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Monday morning, Colangelo was asked about the situation and his words were in direct contradiction to what Brown says. He first said, “Noel definitely isn’t out of the rotation” showing a lack of communication between himself and Brown –not a good look on the Sixers moving forward– but then Colangelo kept going.

He displaced blame for the situation saying that “We have a logjam at center due to decisions that were made before I got here.” This was a direct shot to Sam Hinkie picking Okafor and creating this situation. While that is a large mistake made under Hinkie’s watch, it’s Colangelo’s job to fix those mistakes. Not many new GM’s come into a situation because things are working properly and they have no issues to fix.

Colangelo also added, “I will not make a bad deal for this organization. and that all the bigs could end the season on the roster.” This again would be a terrible move. He now needs to make up for his mistakes by extracting something for Noel, likely from the Raptors or the Trailblazers, and by righting the ship for the Sixers.

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It’s not an easy task for a GM but it’s one that Colangelo needs to solve quickly. The future of the process is in his hands for better or worse. Hopefully, he can do the right thing for the team and Noel by getting him out of Philadelphia quickly. Each day that he spends sitting is another day that someone else could be making use of that roster spot.