With the NBA trade deadline less than 24 hours away, the Philadelphia 76ers just like every team in the NBA are making and answering phone calls about their players. According to Tom Moore of Calkins Media, the Sixers are ‘gauging interest’ in rookie big man Jahlil Okafor.
Now, before anybody presses the panic button, I would not look too deeply into this as the Sixers are just doing their due diligence asking teams around the league about Okafor’s value. Earlier on Wednesday, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, reported that an official who spoke to Heat said that both Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins and Okafor were of interest to Miami.
In a story posted on Wednesday night, Moore said that an NBA source told him, “the chances the 76ers make a significant deal at the trade deadline for the third straight season don’t appear high.“
But in the same story a third source told Moore, “there might be something, there might not be something that happens” before the 3:00 p.m. deadline on Thursday.
If I was a betting man, I would put my money on Okafor being with the Sixers pass the trade deadline. The Sixers would have to be absolutely blown away to trade Okafor, who is averaging 17.1 points and 7.4 rebounds in 30.4 minutes per game this season. But it is not out of the realm of possibility that the Sixers move Okafor in the offseason, depending on the status of Joel Embiid’s foot.
It will be interesting to see if the Sixers make any moves before Thursday’s deadline but knowing GM Sam Hinkie you cannot rule out any possible trade.
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