I know I’m over-hyping the situation, but here in Philly we can only think about previous good times with our teams all in the midst of trying to put the pieces in place to build a champion.
You know how championship teams are built by the decision-making of the front office. The general managers make moves which improve the team bit by bit and give them a chance to win it all.
A championship isn’t on the line for the Sixers today, but what they do today could play a part down the road in whether they get the chance to win a NBA title or not with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
In the next nine hours, the Sixers could decide to trade one of their young centers, Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel. This move could hopefully allow them to add a good player to their backcourt. Unfortunately the entire NBA knows the Sixers are in desperate need of better players in the backcourt to play with Embiid and Simmons.
There are said to be as many as ten teams who have expressed interest in acquiring Okafor. Hopefully the Sixers can find a team that is more desperate than they are. I think they’re at a point where they almost have to move Okafor. I don’t think they should move Noel unless they get a great deal because I think he’s a better fit with Embiid.
In another tank move, the Sixers traded power forward Ersan Ilyasova to the Atlanta Hawks for (a bag of balls) Tiago Splitter and a protected second-round selection. Ilyasova, who started for the Sixers was averaging about 15 points and 6 rebounds a game, so far this season. He will help the Hawks, but Splitter will warm the bench for the Sixers and allow them to give their power forward minutes to Dario Saric. Splitter, who is a center is averaging 5 points and 3 rebounds a game.
