The Philadelphia 76ers have more resources than they know what to do with at this point. In addition to the first pick, Philadelphia has the 24th and 26th picks in this year’s draft.
But that’s not all. The 76ers roster is loaded with high draft picks and young, talented players with loads of potential, some of which haven’t even stepped foot in the NBA yet. But having a bounty of resources hasn’t helped the 76ers win many games the last couple of years. This season, Philadelphia had the worst record in the NBA with only 10 wins to speak of.
But things are going to change in 2016. Per Marc Stein and Chad Ford of ESPN, the 76ers will explore trading first-rounders Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel before the draft on June 23.
Sources told ESPN that the Sixers are determined to gauge the trade market for both Okafor and Noel and are increasingly likely to move at least one of them in conjunction with the draft, in which Philadelphia holds the No. 1 overall selection for the first time since selecting Allen Iverson in 1996.
Sources describe Okafor, at this early juncture, as the most likely of the two to be moved in the wake of his rocky rookie season off the floor.
Among the options the Sixers have is trying to trade Okafor or Noel for another high pick in the looming draft to address their backcourt needs or building a package around either one in a trade for veteran talent, either in June or in July after free agency starts.
It makes sense if you think about. The 76ers want to win now, but the current roster is built to succeed down the road when the younger players have developed. As it is, Philadelphia has too many big men on the roster anyway, most of which are first-round picks that expect to play a lot of minutes. There are concerns if Okafor and Noel can play together. Parting with one of them solves that problem.
Okafor was having a good rookie year before he was shut down with a knee injury. In 53 games, he averaged 17.5 points and seven rebounds. Noel, meanwhile, averaged 11.1 points and 8.1 rebounds this season. There will be teams interested in the both of them. We’ll see how the 76ers handle this as the draft draws closer next month.