Philadelphia 76ers still facing the consequences of drafting multiple centers

While trading Jahlil Okafor seems like the obvious move for the Philadelphia 76ers, the issue arises with waiting for Joel Embiid signs long-term.

To think that the Philadelphia 76ers would still have issues at the center position is mind-boggling. After years of trying to decipher whether or guys like Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, and Jahlil Okafor are good enough to be on the team is crazy. On top of that, you have Richaun Holmes who completely exceeded expectations. It’s a completely different problem than most teams have.

The Sixers thought that they’d take care of this issue when they traded Noel at the trade deadline last season. While many felt that the move was not worth it, that’s what happened. Many fans lobbied for Okafor to be moved, but due to injuries and lack of fit in today’s NBA (supposedly), a deal never occurred. Anyway, the Sixers are back to shopping Okafor once more.

Luckily, the big man will have plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills. While he does exhibit what many call an archaic style of basketball, he still has a place in this league. I’d be beating a dead horse if I went on and on about this. Nevertheless, in the right situation, I believe Okafor can excel. As much as Philadelphia 76ers want to deal Jahlil Okafor, the move may not make as much sense as you’d think. Yes, it would clear up the logjam at the center position, but we need to hold on for a second. The real issue that stands in the way of this, at least in the short term, is Joel Embiid.

First, you have Jahlil Okafor. Most fans feel as though Okafor has not lived up to the hype surrounding him. After a solid rookie campaign where he averaged 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game, many believe that he fell off. Now, one could argue that his knee injury last in his first season played a factor here. At the same time, he didn’t get a ton of reps last year. He played 50 games last year, with 32 resulting multiple DNP’s for various reasons.

Clearly, this killed all the momentum he could have had going into the trade deadline. One would imagine that if you’re going to get rid of a guy, you might as well let him play. Allow him to showcase his skills so that you can get something out of him. Nevertheless, the Sixers still have a glaring issue in their frontcourt.

Now, Joel Embiid is a generational talent. There’s no question about that. We saw him dominate the competition in a 31 game period like no other. He averaged a whopping 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. Seriously, who does that? Clearly, Embiid showed out. So much so that, now that he’s eligible for an extension, he and the Sixers front office are at odds over the semantics of such a deal. Either way, the front office hasn’t taken this issue lightly.

Obviously, the Sixers would be stupid not to look into extending him. The real issue comes when you think about Joel Embiid’s long-term health. In his three seasons in the NBA, Embiid has played in 31 total games. Mind you, this is mostly due to rehabilitation and precaution. On paper, it seems as though Embiid simply can’t stay healthy, but in the grand scheme of things, something bigger is in the works. While, yes, the Philadelphia 76ers need to take their time with Embiid, they need to invest in him long term. All in all, it doesn’t help that he’s extremely talented and extremely injury-prone.

However, as much as we all want to think that Embiid will give the Sixers a hometown discount, that wouldn’t make sense for him. He and his agent (Cherry Hill’s Leon Rose) both know how talented Embiid is. Rose would be doing his client a disservice if he tried to play softball with vice president Bryan Colangelo. There have been setbacks in the past, which have resulted in this quarantining of Embiid, so to speak. Nevertheless, this is the world the Philadelphia 76ers live in.

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Nevertheless, this is the world the Philadelphia 76ers live in. They still face issues with finding a solid return for Jahlil Okafor and also maintaining Joel Embiid’s standing with the team. All in all, they need to find resolutions for these problems before it blows up in the team’s collective face.