Keep Two, Trade One
The Philadelphia 76ers pulled off a bold move by selecting the ACC Player of the Year Jahlil Okafor with the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft last Thursday. The situation is the Sixers still have three big men all under 22 years old. Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor have been three lottery picks in the last three years, all centers. Though, you still don't have a point guard and it's a waste to carry one of those guys on the bench. I'll break down the situation, the stats and put forward my opinion on who the Sixers should keep and who they should trade away for the point guard that they desperately need.
The first one of the bunch that the Sixers took was Nerlens Noel. The 6' 11'' stud out of Kentucky was injured in the first year of his career and waited until the 2014-2015 to shine. He averaged nearly 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. A solid rookie year that got him into third in the NBA rookie of the year voting. As Noel develops he can easily turn into a double-double player as well as picking up constant blocks with the great coaching of Brett Brown on the sidelines.
The second player that Sixers took was Joel Embiid, the former Jayhawk has yet to play in an NBA game because of injuries, though his college stats shoe he is an All-NBA defender. He averaged a decent 11 points, 8 rebounds but was dominate against other Big-12 big men averaging nearly 3 blocks a game. The constant injuries are a scare for the president Sam Hinkie, but if he can eventually stay healthy he looks like a stud.
The most recent addition to the 76ers team was the most offensively gifted player in the whole draft averaging 17 points and 8 rebounds, he picks up a block once in a while but when he is down low he is almost as if he can't miss. He had the best percentage from the field shooting .664. The problem with Okafor is his defense. If he can improve his play by just a bit I feel he can be a decent defender matched up with one of the stronger defensive players the Sixers have.
In conclusion, I feel the best move for Philadelphia is to trade Joel Embiid. The injuries are the main reason as well as weight issues he had this past season which is why they should trade him. He is a gifted defender, though if they hold onto Noel who is already a dominant defender in the Atlantic division it would make sense to keep the better scorer in Okafor who will lead the Sixers in scoring for years to come. The Sixers must trade Embiid for either a veteran point guard or a 1st round draft pick where they can draft that need.
