Where is Jahlil Okafor?

[spikeslovechild]

I'm stunned there are still guys defending Okafor. I don't get how you can look at his various and obvious limitations and conclude anything other than he is the odd man out.

I'm stunned after everything that has happened inregards to Noel that people are still out there taking that view. Noel has said he wants out. Every legitimate rumor of the last five months has us moving Noel. The deadline has passed for a contract extension before he can reach free agency. He is an RFA after this year, wants max money, and we only have the center role available for him moving forward.

There is refusing to read the tea leaves and then there is ignoring a big bold neon sign flashing right in front of you. Noel supporters live in the own reality I guess. Thats not to say Okafor future here is particularly rosy either but that is a separate issue. Noel can, will, and should be moved. Period end of story.

[Kobblehead]

The pairing shouldn't be used at all. The only way it would make sense to even entertain the possibility of trying it would be if Okafor had offensive range and could play the 4. He doesn't so that should be the end of that discussion.

This is all a huge waste of time, anyway. BEN SIMMONS IS OUR 4.

This is heading down a long, idiotic road of Brett Brown ruining two elite prospects by playing them both out of position.

C - Okafor
F - Embiid
F -
G -
G - Simmons

^ This is an absolute joke and it's actually Brett's longterm vision.

[freshie2]

The long term vision isn't lineup specific...it's to win championships. Brown has never been asked to win the championship at this point, and this year (as prior) is impacted by significant injuries. Okafor a can be a piece of this puzzle or they're just trying to showcase him in different positions for trade value.

Simmons is a player, who he guards depends on the matchup. "He's a PF" is as silly as "He's a PG"...put him on the floor, give him the ball and forget the position labels...

[Kobblehead]

No it's not. Simmons is an elite rebounder and he's built for the position. You play him at the 4 to get the most out of that skill. You play "4 out, 1 in" on offense with him running the show and acting as a PG anyway. Playing him at the actual 1 is idiotic and I can't fathom how a professional coach or fans that watch hours of basketball each week can't recognize this.

[freshie2]

What position does LeBron play? I'm not concerned about what they announce at the start of the game, but what role does he actually play on the court? Simmons is similar in that he should develop into a positionless player. Facilitator, post, perimeter...what does the team need? If he's placed into a two letter box, I actually prefer SF to PF.

[Kobblehead]

What position does LeBron play? I'm not concerned about what they announce at the start of the game, but what role does he actually play on the court? Simmons is similar in that he should develop into a positionless player. Facilitator, post, perimeter...what does the team need? If he's placed into a two letter box, I actually prefer SF to PF.

LeBron splits his time between the 3 and 4. He's never logged a minute of actual PG in his life. Because 250+ pounders can't stay in front of 190-200 pounders. Brett Brown seemingly has no regard for inertia, though.

This isn't rocket science. Ben is best optimized at the 4. He's an elite rebounder, for one. Secondly, he doesn't have the degree of jumpshot LeBron does yet.

[Kobblehead]

Read on Twitter

Is there any way to spin this and continue burying our heads in the sand on the matter?

[CoreyGallagher]

Is there any way to spin this and continue burying our heads in the sand on the matter?

I didn't spin it, is that not the gist of what I quoted?

I don't think it's that big of a deal since I don't think they'll be paired much together anyway.

[the_process]

The saddest part of this is not some of our own fans think Okafor is bad but they HOPE he is as bad as they expect him to be.

Or, you know, we use our eyes and the stats and call it based on what Okafor actually does. One or the other.

Do you hope he will get better ?

Hi Mrs. Okafor!

I honestly don't care. That's up to him, not me. Even if he gets better, unless he miraculously gains athleticism and becomes either a good outside shooter all the way out to 3 or an excellent defender, he's still the odd man out, and they shouldn't be wasting minutes with Embiid at PF and Noel buried to accommodate a guy who should not factor into long range plans.

[the_process]

I'm stunned there are still guys defending Okafor. I don't get how you can look at his various and obvious limitations and conclude anything other than he is the odd man out.

I'm stunned after everything that has happened inregards to Noel that people are still out there taking that view. Noel has said he wants out. Every legitimate rumor of the last five months has us moving Noel. The deadline has passed for a contract extension before he can reach free agency. He is an RFA after this year, wants max money, and we only have the center role available for him moving forward.

There is refusing to read the tea leaves and then there is ignoring a big bold neon sign flashing right in front of you. Noel supporters live in the own reality I guess. Thats not to say Okafor future here is particularly rosy either but that is a separate issue. Noel can, will, and should be moved. Period end of story.

You have to read the actual quotes, not the completely different ones you apparently invented in your head.

"You've got three talented centers that can play 30-plus minutes a night and three centers can't play 30 minutes a night. That's that. Things need to be situated," Noel said. "Obviously, somebody's got to be moved around. It's a tough situation, but I can only say so much because I have no say and no power."

"I feel like it definitely needs to be figured out," he said. "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."

Noel said he wasn't speaking negatively about the team's other starting-caliber centers, Embiid and Jahlil Okafor. Nor was he speaking for them.

"Don't get me wrong. We all get along great on the court and off the court," Noel said. "But at the end of the day, it's like having three starting quarterbacks. It doesn't make any sense."

However, he was adamant that his feeling would not affect his performance.

"I'm here to do my job and play as hard as I can play for the city of Philadelphia," Noel said. "I've always loved the fans from the jump. It's probably one of the realest cities in the country with just genuine passion and love for the sport."

So... ready for this? Dude is upset he didn't get paid, and now he wants PT to make his case to get paid, but it doesn't matter where that is because money is green on the Atlantic and the Pacific.

[SelfishPlayer]

I agree that Simmons is a 4. You play him with 3 perimeter players and one big.

[phifans]

Stop your crying. Sack up.

Im not crying dude. I'm just saying what you guys want. How our FO hasn't been recognized that Okafor is one of the worst player is beyond me. I mean there are so many posters here who has determined that. What are they waiting for ? Just cut this guy and everything will be fine and nobody will play out of their position anymore.

What's your purpose here? Trying to break the record for most consecutive juvenile or uninformative posts ever. I've never seen you post anything to show the positives that Okafor brings to the team. Just girlish rants about other people's criticisms of Okafor. If you think he's a good player then post positive information about Okafor to disprove what is being said. Stop posting rhetorical BS about people hating him personally. You continuing to stomp your feet and cry about other 76er fans criticism's of Okafor isn't going to change anybody's opinion. It just makes you look like a clown.

I didn't post any positive of Okafor because its useless. Someone posted his last six games performance and guys here just prefer to ignore it and keep trashing him. Did you ever post any positive about Okafor ? Never. Then why would I waste my time trying to do this. My purpose is to let you guys admit your true feel about him just like the other one who just said he actually doesn't care if OK4 will get better. You don't actually care about if Okafor will be good you just want him to be bad. Thats why you ignore every positive imformation about him .

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Wow, the haters going strong tonight. SMH, aaight......i'm out, back to the game. Later Scrooges.

[spikeslovechild]

You really need me to draw you a map as to why Embiid gets more possessions than Okafor?

Embiid's usage rate is way too high anyway. It's probably inflated by some of his dumb turnovers, but either way like Okafor I expect it will go down as he starts to play with better people around him. No one on the Warriors has higher than a 28 usage rate, Lebron is at 30 etc etc etc.

IDK what to tell you man. Okafor has the 2nd highest usage rate on the team among guys that have played more than 100 minutes. It's the 10th highest among centers in the whole NBA. You're just flat out wrong if you think he's getting frozen out or something. He's not getting to shoot the ball every time down the court because that's not how NBA basketball works. Honestly it's like I'm a kindergarten teacher explaining to some parents why little Jimmy has to share his toys... only I'm pretty sure little Jimmy is more on board with this than the parents in this case...

And I'm not sure what you mean by "effective" but he can certainly be a positive player in this league and a good role player for this team if he's efficient in the possessions he gets (Which will still probably always be 20+% btw no one is saying he should become Bruce Bowen or something) and gives a consistent effort on the glass and defense.

Okafor usage is way down and has been a downward trend since the beginning of the season and when he does get the ball it's usually not when he is in a position to score. It isn't even about getting him more looks. It's about making sure the roster makes sense moving forward.

I just don't see why we need to have a offensive center in such a limited role. If this is his role moving forward then we can fill it with more of a traditional backup C. I'd probably still trade Noel considering his ask but I'm starting to not see a future for Okafor here either.

And the team is on pace to win twice as many games, and the offense is several points more efficient when he is on the court compared to last year despite him being super out of shape for a decent chunk of it. Small sample size and all but that's evidence to what I'm seeing that the offense is more efficient when everyone gets involved.

And again, it's not a limited role, he has the 2nd biggest role on the team and a clearly above average role for someone at his position. It's just not 15-20 shots in 27 minutes because that is ridiculous and not based on anything. There are many "offensive minded" players in this league that are better than Okafor that average fewer shots per minute than that.

It's really weird to me that you both want Okafor to play with better teammates but you don't want him to give up any touches to better teammates. That's kind of how it works. As the team gets better he will trade more touches for better touches.

This isn't as complicated as you portend.

Okafor needs touches to be a useful player. He doesn't defend well. He doesn't rebound well. He doesn't rim protect well. He scores. In the words of Geico that is what he does.

The more you limit him on offense the more you limit his usefulness. Van Gundy gets it. I mean it's obvious or at least should be to anyone who is watching games. He's shooting something like .700 this month and his USG% has went down. It's down to 22% and alot of that usage is away from the basket in which he ends up giving the ball up early anyways.

[Sixerscan]

Okafor usage is way down and has been a downward trend since the beginning of the season and when he does get the ball it's usually not when he is in a position to score. It isn't even about getting him more looks. It's about making sure the roster makes sense moving forward.

I just don't see why we need to have a offensive center in such a limited role. If this is his role moving forward then we can fill it with more of a traditional backup C. I'd probably still trade Noel considering his ask but I'm starting to not see a future for Okafor here either.

And the team is on pace to win twice as many games, and the offense is several points more efficient when he is on the court compared to last year despite him being super out of shape for a decent chunk of it. Small sample size and all but that's evidence to what I'm seeing that the offense is more efficient when everyone gets involved.

And again, it's not a limited role, he has the 2nd biggest role on the team and a clearly above average role for someone at his position. It's just not 15-20 shots in 27 minutes because that is ridiculous and not based on anything. There are many "offensive minded" players in this league that are better than Okafor that average fewer shots per minute than that.

It's really weird to me that you both want Okafor to play with better teammates but you don't want him to give up any touches to better teammates. That's kind of how it works. As the team gets better he will trade more touches for better touches.

This isn't as complicated as you portend.

Okafor needs touches to be a useful player. He doesn't defend well. He doesn't rebound well. He doesn't rim protect well. He scores. In the words of Geico that is what he does.

The more you limit him on offense the more you limit his usefulness. Van Gundy gets it. I mean it's obvious or at least should be to anyone who is watching games. He's shooting something like .700 this month and his USG% has went down. It's down to 22% and alot of that usage is away from the basket in which he ends up giving the ball up early anyways.

You don't see the relationship between Okafor's usage rate going down and his efficiency going up. Ok.

[spikeslovechild]

I'm stunned there are still guys defending Okafor. I don't get how you can look at his various and obvious limitations and conclude anything other than he is the odd man out.

I'm stunned after everything that has happened inregards to Noel that people are still out there taking that view. Noel has said he wants out. Every legitimate rumor of the last five months has us moving Noel. The deadline has passed for a contract extension before he can reach free agency. He is an RFA after this year, wants max money, and we only have the center role available for him moving forward.

There is refusing to read the tea leaves and then there is ignoring a big bold neon sign flashing right in front of you. Noel supporters live in the own reality I guess. Thats not to say Okafor future here is particularly rosy either but that is a separate issue. Noel can, will, and should be moved. Period end of story.

You have to read the actual quotes, not the completely different ones you apparently invented in your head.

"You've got three talented centers that can play 30-plus minutes a night and three centers can't play 30 minutes a night. That's that. Things need to be situated," Noel said. "Obviously, somebody's got to be moved around. It's a tough situation, but I can only say so much because I have no say and no power."

"I feel like it definitely needs to be figured out," he said. "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."

Noel said he wasn't speaking negatively about the team's other starting-caliber centers, Embiid and Jahlil Okafor. Nor was he speaking for them.

"Don't get me wrong. We all get along great on the court and off the court," Noel said. "But at the end of the day, it's like having three starting quarterbacks. It doesn't make any sense."

However, he was adamant that his feeling would not affect his performance.

"I'm here to do my job and play as hard as I can play for the city of Philadelphia," Noel said. "I've always loved the fans from the jump. It's probably one of the realest cities in the country with just genuine passion and love for the sport."

So... ready for this? Dude is upset he didn't get paid, and now he wants PT to make his case to get paid, but it doesn't matter where that is because money is green on the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Ready for this? Dude is a malcontent and a cancer. I want him the hell of the off the team team but it appears noone is willing to give anything for him because check this they've done their research too and found out he's a whiny, malcontent bitch.

Also, in your own quotes he mentions starter like 100 times. He'll never start with Embiid on the roster unless there are back to backs even if we trade Okafor.

[seventy6ers]

Okafor is a pretty good at scoring when he controls the ball in the half-court set. Outside of that: He is not a good rebounder, he is not a good defensive player, and he can't get down the court on transition. Regardless of what is done with Noel, Okafor needs to be traded because he does not fit this system.

[HotelVitale]

Ready for this? Dude is a malcontent and a cancer. I want him the hell of the off the team team but it appears noone is willing to give anything for him because check this they've done their research too and found out he's a whiny, malcontent bitch. Also, in your own quotes he mentions starter like 100 times. He'll never start with Embiid on the roster unless there are back to backs even if we trade Okafor.

Relax, man, there's no reason to start cursing him until he starts threatening to sit out or something. No one gains anything by you pretending you know what teams think about him, especially not that they ran some sort of secret personality tests and found out he's a 'whiny malcontent bitch.'

He's worried about losing millions and millions of dollars and we did put him a weird position. He gets to be a real human and express those concerns in a modest, polite way (which is basically what that interview was). Don't start with those whole 'heartless traitor!' crap until he actually screws us.

[rzzzzz]

Okafor needs to be traded because he does not fit this system.

?

what system is that? are you a fan of whatever that mess was that Sergio, Henderson and RoCo opened last night's game with? it was like 13-0 before either of our bigs got their hands on the ball to take a shot. none of these guys are the future, except maybe Covington deep on our bench. we won't have a clue until Simmons is on the court. maybe the twin towers still won't work then, but it sure as hell will have a decent chance when we finally got someone who knows how to distribute the ball into the paint.

[HotelVitale]

Okafor is a pretty good at scoring when he controls the ball in the half-court set. Outside of that: He is not a good rebounder, he is not a good defensive player, and he can't get down the court on transition. Regardless of what is done with Noel, Okafor needs to be traded because he does not fit this system.

What are you trying to achieve here? If we could get a nice return on either of them, they would be gone today. Obviously we can't have 3 centers, and obviously Okafor isn't a great NBA player now (regardless of system). We haven't found a great trade partner for Noel or Okafor so right now we can only wait, play them when we can, and either hope that a deal pops up at the deadline or in the RFA period. The only thing extra urgency does is make us more likely to take back some junk offer (a Cavs' 1st and Mo Williams! Terrence Ross and a late 2nd!). Unless you're cool with that, then waiting is the only move.