Sixers head coach Brett Brown indicated today to reporters that Nerlens Noel will be available off the bench on Sunday to make his 2016/17 debut against Detroit (Twitter link via Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com). While Philadelphia will be happy to welcome Noel back to the lineup, his return further complicates the club’s frontcourt rotation, as Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News writes. In addition to finding minutes for Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, and Noel, Brown will also have to find a way to work in Richaun Holmes, Dario Saric, and Ersan Ilyasova. Embiid won’t play on Sunday, so the Sixers’ head coach won’t have to make any major rotation decisions right away, but those decisions are right around the corner.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- While the Knicks‘ decision to sign Joakim Noah to a pricey four-year contract has received some deserved criticism, many of Phil Jackson‘s other moves are paying off, with the team playing well, writes Ian Begley of ESPN.com. That includes the hiring of Jeff Hornacek, though he wasn’t Jackson’s first choice, sources tell Begley. Still, Jackson’s recent public comments about LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony have overshadowed the Knicks’ on-court performance, as Begley details.
- Jared Sullinger left the Celtics for the division-rival Raptors this offseason, but admits he still supports his old Boston teammates “from a distance,” per A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. Sullinger has yet to make his regular-season debut for Toronto, having undergone foot surgery in October.
- Earlier today, we rounded up a handful of Nets-related items.
Noel should get his bum ass out of philly
U mad bro?
We’ll take him in Boston! Send him over.
I’ll take him over Okafor. Dude is soft like toilet paper. Needs to watch defensive videos of the bad boys or something.
Breakfast on Broad literally questioning if he’s soft this morning lol.
Noel will look good in green! ☘️
Brown doesn’t have to find a way to get anyone minutes. The public by and large believes players are entitled to minutes, when they are not. The only player whose feelings matter to the Sixers are Joel Embiid’s, and then Ben Simmons. Everyone else either fits around them or doesn’t. Fortunately, each of the sixers bigs excels at something different. So Brett Brown will simply use Okafor when he wants scoring, Noel for defense, Saric for another ballhandler and rebounder, or Ilyasova to stretch the floor and provide veteran leadership. It’ll vary from day to day. …. As for Noel’s free agency, NBA GM’s aren’t going to all of a sudden forget what he can do. Moreover, sparer minutes could keep him healthier. Even further more, he has to guard perimeter players in order to get minutes when Embiid is playing, which will enhance his value as a player in free agency this summer and over the course of his career. … This really isn’t hard the moment people let go of the idea that any one of Saric or Okafor or Noel or Ilyasova or Covington have “rights” because of where they were drafted or how long they’ve been with the team or whatever…
If Nerlens can get on the floor without hurting himself, he’s just going to have to be traded. The best they can hope for is a sign & trade at the end of the season. They can’t justify bringing him back at 15-20M.