The Philadelphia 76ers are in a rare predicament, with two budding centers that will surely make waves at some point in their respective careers.
Right now, that is still too early to call, but if the Sixers are bent on climbing out of their mediocre state, they need to give up one and use that slot for another player position. A glaring spot the Sixers may want to consider is their guard spot to complement either Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel.
So who between Okafor or Noel would be feasible? Right now, Noel stands out mainly because he has been around longer than Okafor. But then again, the rookie has shown promise and could be a force as well as long as he stays away from off-court trouble.
It seems a pretty tough one to call, with both players having a fine set of skills that could be hard to give up. However, there are other factors — like two players in the frontline mix — to consider as well.
One is Joel Embiid, who has yet to play a single game in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Embiid is a natural center so with that in mind, it could be about who between Noel and Okafor can slide down to the power forward position.
Other than that, it may all boil down on who can play defense. Noel has proven he can play good defense, while Okafor had been questioned about his defensive prowess even before the NBA Draft.
At this point, it seems that Noel is a logical choice, although the money factor comes into play. Noel will become a restricted free agent in 2017–18 and is likely to ask for a big pay raise. If not, he will likely end up being traded to some team who is willing to give him the salary he wants.
Okafor, on the other hand, would be a cheaper option at least until that point. But if money is not an issue, Noel still stands as a good choice, although it may depend on what Jerry Colangelo has in mind for the Sixers' future.
