A report surfaced recently that the Philadelphia 76ers are willing to part ways with Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. Both are young, talented players that have found themselves in the NBA’s version of hell — I mean don’t get me wrong, I’d gladly take those pay checks to win one game every three weeks or so, but for an NBA player that already has the money it has to be brutal playing in Philadelphia.
With that news, I thought what we all think: “Do they fit in with the Nuggets?”
There is never a bad time to fire up the NBA Trade Machine, so lets see what we can do?
Before we get too far into the trades, let’s talk a little about Noel and Okafor. Okafor was the third-overall pick out of Duke last season and did not seem to be too happy about the location of his new job right from the get go. At 6-foot-11, 275 pounds, Okafor averaged 17.5 points and seven rebounds per game; he, like a lot of young talent on the Nuggets roster, has upside.
As far as Noel goes, his NBA career has been a disappointment up to this point, though you have to take into account the organization he’s been playing for. I will always be for players getting as much money as they can in their professional career, no matter the sport, but Noel could have used at least another year of college — work on his jumper, understand what it means to become a leader and much more — but money talks and everyone has the right to make their own choice.
The first thing I did, as would most, was try to trade Kenneth Faried, who I can confirm is playing basketball in his off time … In my rec league. Back to the trade, I traded Faried straight up for Jahlil Okafor and it worked but that’s no fun, right? I do think that would be a win/win for all parties involved, Faried would go to a team and be a leader type like he wants to be, and Okafor would get a change of scenery for the dumpster fire that is the 76ers.
Imagine a lineup with Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Nikola Jokic and Jahlil Okafor. That’s a lot of young talent.
Next I traded both Okafor and Nerlens Noel to the Nuggets for Faried and Jusuf Nurkic. I like Nurkic, I like the potential in Nurk, but he has to buy into what head coach Michael Malone is selling. We know there were times late in the season where he was frustrated with the lack of playing time. A change of scenery would not be bad for Nurk, either, but even though this trade works and would save the Nuggets some money, I am not quite ready to give up on Jusuf yet.
Okay, but before I left that good ol’ Trade Machine, I thought I would see if something the Sixers would be crazy to do would work. Send Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor to Denver for Jusuf Nurkic, Jameer Nelson and the beloved JaKarr Sampson. If Philly is serious about sending a message this summer, then maybe Denver Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly can get one over on them? They would get veteran leadership in Nelson, give the fans Sampson back, whom they loved, and some serious young talent in Nurk.
If you are like me, then you love to see NBA trade rumors because it lets me play this fun game with my favorite teams. Give it a shot and let me know what kind of crazy, good or bad trades you can come up with!