According to the latest wave of NBA trade rumors, the Philadelphia 76ers are more interested in trading off Jahlil Okafor over Nerlens Noel.
In the past weeks, NBA trade rumors claimed that the team is shopping Nerlens Noel and Okafor to other teams with the latter reportedly headed to Atlanta Hawks for Jeff Teague.
Now, Keith Pompey of The Inquirer is now reporting that the Sixers would rather trade Okafor than Noel, and that it is "unclear if unclear [Okafor] will be a Sixer next season."
Pompey said that although the franchise is prepared to trade whoever "brings them a better deal," as what has been said in previous NBA trade rumors, the Sixers hope Noel to stay put.
"The Sixers expect to get equal value in return, but it could be hard to do that when every team knows they are looking to unload the big man," Pompey went on to explain.
Chad Ford of ESPN (via Liberty Ballers) also believes that there's "a slight preference for Noel" and that there's also a "slight, better value for Okafor out on the market."
While the Sixers would rather Okafor and Noel against each other instead of playing together, Liberty Ballers still find its preference of Noel a bit of a surprise especially with the trade with Teague already moving along quite well.
Either way, should Okafor pack his bags soon, rumor has it that the Lakers will be the landing spot for the 20-year-old former Duke cager.
The team is expected to trade their second overall pick to the Sixers in order to acquire Okafor and effectively fill the void that will be left by Roy Hibbert, who will be an unrestricted free agent next month.
On the other hand, veteran NBA reporter David Aldridge thinks that the Los Angeles will instead be trading D'Angelo Russell for Okafor although the sports journalist believes it would benefit Sixers more than it will benefit the Lakers.
