It goes without saying that when an NBA team gets the chance to select the best available player in the NBA Draft, the obvious notion is to go for it.
Jahlil Okafor was someone many believed who could seriously vie for the top rookie pick in the 2015 NBA Draft was surprisingly available by the time the Philadelphia 76ers were to pick and the team wasted no time in announcing the former Duke standout as their selection.
Okafor could have landed in Minnesota or Los Angeles but after both teams drafted Karl-Anthony Towns (expectedly) and D'Angelo Russell (a bit surprisingly), Okafor was too good to pass up.
Had they passed on Okafor and perhaps gone for Emmanuel Mudiay, Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks would have been happy and at the same time shocked had Okafor still around.
But now the question is what do the Sixers plan to do with Okafor? Will they keep him or dangle him as they have been known to have with other players before.
In what many consider a surprise, the Sixers will reportedly keep and play Okafor. He is seen as someone who may take the place of Joel Embiid who could be out for another season.
The Sixers plan to keep Okafor --- for good, sources tell Yahoo. He won't be auctioned in a trade.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 25, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">And should Okafor make a good account for himself, Embiid will likely be shipped once he is up and about.
Okafor is a good low power player and someone who could provide the needed low post scoring the team sorely needs. Should he provide effective and blend in with big man Nerlens Noel, the Sixers could pull off a surprise and finally make a serious rise in the NBA Eastern Conference.
The idea of Okafor being traded is still up in the air. However that could depend on a couple of scenariors:
- The Sixers get a good offer in exchange for Okafor, a deal that would be hard to resist (which may include some money considerations in the process)
- Okafor bombs out of his debut and fails to live up to the hype he has been getting.
Of the two, the first one seems to make more sense though one never knows what general managerSam Hinkie has up his sleeves.
