With Alex Len’s free agency approaching and the Suns entering a draft that boasts few truly skilled big men, it’s time for Ryan McDonough to make a move and acquire Philly’s Okafor for pennies on the dollar.
Since last year, the Phoenix Suns have been tied to acquiring Jahlil Okafor from the Philadelphia 76ers. The 6’11” center at the time was fresh off an impressive rookie season on the offensive end, showing post moves equivalent to Tim Duncan, but defense wasn’t as listless and porous as Andrea Bargnani stuck in sludge. One rumor that percolated for a while was a Jahlil Okafor for Brandon Knight trade. It made sense at the time for both teams. The 76ers needed a guard and the Suns needed an upgrade at the center position as well.
In each end no trade would occur as both teams were wrongly overconfident in the abilities of their players. At the deadline, a Jahlil trade to the Suns was also thrown around and and seemed likely with Jahlil possessing the attitude of an edgy, grumpy teenager on the court making his value decrease significantly thus generating even more buzz that he had great potential to be a trade target for a rebuilding Suns team.
To make matters better for the Suns, Richaun Holmes proved to be the 2nd best big for Philadelphia, sinking Okafor’s value faster than AOL’s stock in 2006. It made sense for the Suns to find a replacement for Alex Len, who is scheduled to hit free agency in the summer. However, the Suns refused to, essentially saying to the fanbase ‘I think our team would be better with an out of shape Jared Sullinger.’
Luckily for the Suns, not making this trade kind of worked out. Standing pat allowed Alan Williams and Marquese Chriss to get plenty of playing time to blossom. The Suns also were allowed to ride the tank and get the 2nd best odds in the lottery. This will set up the Suns up with a top-5 pick in one of the deepest drafts in recent memory.
The 76ers, on the other hand, got the rough end of the deal. By not trading Okafor, they were forced to play a disgruntled Okafor when Joel Embiid went down with a torn meniscus. Okafor eventually lost even more support in that time span, essentially becoming the Bizarro Joel Embiid.
When Jahlil was shut down at the end of the season, a 76ers fan asked Spike Eskin, the creator of the 76ers podcast, The Rights To Ricky Sanchez, why it took so long for the 76ers to shut down Okafor. Eskin responded in a fashion that shows that the same city that idolizes Joel Embiid as a hero doesn’t think highly of Okafor.
Everyone and their Mother know that Jahlil Okafor needs to leave Philadelphia. The 76ers fans don’t want Okafor. Okafor doesn’t want to play in Philadelphia. The 76ers even don’t want him. I mean the 76ers have openly said they have tried to trade him.
Some Philadelphia fans are calling for Okafor to be traded for second round picks. Others want Okafor traded for a low first round pick. Some are even calling for the team to release the third overall pick in the 2015 draft. With that in mind, I believe that the Suns would be extremely foolish to not contact Bryan Colangelo about Jahlil and here’s why: