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Nerlens Noel Upset About Playing Time

December 17th, 2016 at 8:53am CST by Austin Kent

It didn’t take long for the logjam in Philadelphia’s frontcourt to go south. The 76ers had been largely shielded from their inevitable fate for the first 20 games of the season as 22-year-old Nerlens Noel rehabilitated from a knee injury out of sight and out of mind. Now that the third-year veteran is back and able to play, he has expressed frustration with the conditions to which he’s returned.

Not only is Noel being used less than he had been in his first two seasons (30.8 and 29.3 MPG, respectively), he’s been plugged in the lineup alongside other big men like Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor.

“I just want to play basketball,” Noel told CSN Philly’s Jessica Camerato after playing eight minutes in a loss to the Lakers. “I’m not an eight-minute player so I don’t know what that’s about. […] I need to be on the court playing basketball. I think I’m too good to be playing eight minutes. Like, no, that’s crazy. That’s crazy. That’s crazy. They need to figure this s–t out.”

Throughout the first month and a half of the 2016/17 campaign, Noel’s absence allowed head coach Brett Brown to utilize various combinations of other power forwards and centers without having to balance this final piece. Now that Noel’s back, however, players like Richaun Holmes and Dario Saric, too, have seen their roles adjusted. Holmes saw a DNP-CD Friday, while Saric has been shifted down to small forward.

Displeasure with the club’s new rotation doesn’t seem limited to just Noel, either. Rookie Embiid has voiced his own concerns with the modified rotation. As Philadelphia Magazine’s Derek Bodner tweeted Friday night, Embiid expressed subtle displeasure with the defensive effort of his teammates after the loss and, per Camerato, he wasn’t pleased with his own performance “standing on the perimeter” in Wednesday’s loss to the Raptors either.

The Noel comments serves as the latest example that something appears likely to give in Philadelphia, whether that means the club limits Noel’s playing time in an effort to showcase and eventually trade Okafor, or – more likely – to just deal Noel, as has been rumored for months. Basketball Insiders’ Steve Kyler speculates that two of the most likely trade partners for Noel would be the Raptors or Wizards.

Sixers Notes: Okafor, Simmons, Noel

December 14th, 2016 at 9:05pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Jahlil Okafor could be the odd man out in Philadelphia, Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines. Sielski notes that Okafor is not a fit next to either Nerlens Noel or Joel Embiid, and he’s the worst defender of the three players.

Noel had previously expressed concerns about the frontcourt logjam, but it appears he is now more open to playing alongside his teammates. Embiid, who is likely to get pushed to power forward for the time being, regardless of whether Noel or Okafor is traded, has no concerns over the logjam.

“I’ve always wanted to be a point guard,” Embiid exclaimed. “So that gives me a chance to get the ball, iso, play one-on-one from the three-point line, the pull-up jumpers. I’ll be more of a spacer, more of a stretch four.”

Here’s more from Philadelphia:

Ben Simmons took a major step forward in his recovery from a fractured right foot, Brian Seltzer of NBA.com writes. Simmons was able to shoot foul shots without a walking boot for the first time since suffering the Jones fracture.
Coach Brett Brown is pleased with Simmons’ understanding of the game, Selzer adds in the same piece. “From a non-medical standpoint and just his coach, the evolution that he and I have been able to have in a classroom and on a court, in talking things through over the past few months, is fantastic,” Brown said.
John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Inquirer examines how the Sixers have failed in previous drafts. The scribe breaks down the team’s last six drafts and finds the team missed out on top talent in nearly every one.
Earlier today, we learned that rival teams were discouraged with the results of their research on Noel and the Sixers may not be able to get much in return for him as a result.

Sixers Coach Thinks Three Centers Can Coexist

December 14th, 2016 at 3:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Nerlens Noel has been ruled out of tonight’s game against Toronto due to an ankle sprain, but there’s a good chance he’ll be back on the floor on Friday. If he is, it will likely be the first game of the season in which the Sixers will have Noel, Joel Embiid, and Jahlil Okafor all healthy and available. And according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, head coach Brett Brown believes the three young centers can coexist, contrary to popular belief.

“[It can work] if they buy in and let me coach them and put them in positions where they truly have a chance to succeed,” Brown said. As Pompey writes, Embiid would be the starting center and franchise player in this scenario, with Okafor providing an offensive spark and Noel as a defensive specialist off the bench.

As for Noel, who has been critical in the past of the club’s roster construction, expressing skepticism about how the frontcourt rotation will work, he has changed his tune a little, according to Pompey. Based on recent practices, Noel believes two of the bigs will be on the floor together at once, running a high-low offense.

“I think a new offense is something good,” Noel said. “It’s something that can really somewhat work with the big trailing, the big at the free-throw line. So I think it’s more compact, and spacing will definitely be a key factor.

“I wasn’t curious before,” Noel said, “but now that we are actually here, I guess that I am curious, whatever that means. But we will let that play out as long as it needs to.”

While Brown is optimistic and Noel is willing to give it a shot, there’s still plenty of doubt about whether Embiid, Okafor, and Noel can coexist. One of them will likely be moved at some point, and Noel looks like the strongest candidate to go. In a podcast this week, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported that some potential suitors doing research on Noel were wary of his habits and the way he carries himself, so perhaps his latest comments reflect a conscious effort to convey a positive attitude.

Sixers Notes: Bayless, Noel, Okafor, Brown

December 4th, 2016 at 7:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

Injured point guard Jerryd Bayless should consider surgery on his left wrist, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Bayless has only played in three of the Sixers’ 20 games because of a torn ligament. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection last week and plans to join the team for Monday’s game with the Nuggets. “I’m going to try to play,” Bayless said. “I want to play. I want to get to the point where I can play and not worry about it.” Pompey commends Bayless for attempting to play through the pain after signing a three-year, $27MM contract this summer, but he adds that surgery is probably the wiser move considering that the Sixers seem doomed to another non-playoff season.

There’s more out of Philadelphia:

The Sixers need to get Nerlens Noel back on the court before they can make a decision about whether to trade him or Jahlil Okafor, according to Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Noel has been sidelined since October 24th when he had surgery to take care of inflamed tissue above his left knee. Okafor has a much higher trade value right now, Cooney states, because he is a proven scorer and other teams are wary of Noel’s health. Once Noel returns, which could be in a couple of weeks, the team may have difficulty finding enough minutes for him with Okafor and Joel Embiid already in place.
Brett Brown isn’t in any immediate danger of being fired, Cooney contends in the same piece. Despite a league-worst 4-16 record, Cooney doesn’t believe the organization will get rid of Brown before he has a chance to work with No. 1 pick Ben Simmons, who has been out since the preseason with a fracture in his right foot.
The Sixers have started using Embiid and Okafor on the court together and the early results have been positive, notes Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. “I liked our spacing, I liked the high-low stuff we were doing,” Brown said. “I think when you post Joel, that Jahlil is going to play sort of hide-and-seek on the other side of the floor, and work that low zone, and become — I hope — a potent offensive rebounder. When you post Jahlil, Joel has the ability to space to three.”

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Okafor, Noel, Simmons

November 30th, 2016 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Joel Embiid has been cleared for 28 minutes per game, another sign that his recovery from foot problems is going well, relays Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The rookie center had been limited to 24 minutes along with restrictions on back-to-back games. Even with those limits, he has averaged 18.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per night in 12 contests. The decision to expand his minutes was made after consultations with team doctors. Embiid underwent a CT scan on Monday that showed his foot is in good shape. “Everybody would see the impact that Joel has when he is on the floor,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “The four minutes by all indications will give us a better chance of winning.”

There’s more news out of Philadelphia:

The postponement of tonight’s game with the Kings robbed fans of the chance to see Embiid and Jahlil Okafor on the court together, writes Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Sixers’ first-round picks in 2014 and 2015 have shared the court for just two minutes and 36 seconds so far this season, but Brown had planned to use them extensively to match up with Sacramento’s big front line. “Tonight, there are matchups the other team puts on the floor that justify it and feel it’s not hurting the team,” Brown said before the game. “You want to judge it on defense and are we getting up and down the floor and matchups, but tonight seems like a good night to make it happen.”
Nerlens Noel is expected to join the Sixers for practice on Thursday after a short stay in the D-League, tweets Derek Bodner of PhillyMag. Noel was sent to the team’s affiliate in Delaware Tuesday on a rehab assignment.
Rookie Ben Simmons continues his slow recovery from surgery after fracturing his right foot in October, Bodner tweets. Simmons, who is expected to take over at point guard when he returns, was at a recent practice working on post passes to Embiid and Okafor while sitting on a chair.

Sixers More Likely To Trade Noel Than Okafor

November 23rd, 2016 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel have been the subjects of trade rumors for most of the year, and there’s still a good chance that one of the two players will be moved in advance of this season’s trade deadline. According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, however, the Sixers “don’t have much desire” to trade Okafor. Kyler tweets that Noel is the more likely trade candidate, as he and the team are “not on the same page at all.”

While Okafor hasn’t said a whole lot about the logjam at center in Philadelphia, Noel referred to the situation as “silly” prior to the start of training camp in the fall, expressing surprise that the front office hadn’t addressed the club’s crowded depth chart by making a trade in the summer. The Sixers, meanwhile, weren’t entirely happy that Noel decided to stay in Massachusetts to work out this summer, according to Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Daily News. Shortly after he reported to camp, the 22-year-old felt discomfort in his knee, and that issue has kept him out of action ever since.

So far this season, with Noel sidelined due to that knee injury and Okafor and Joel Embiid on minutes limits, the Sixers’ center logjam hasn’t been a major issue. But Noel is getting closer to returning to action, and Okafor’s minutes restrictions have been lifted, so the competition for playing time in the frontcourt is about to heat up, as Cooney writes.

Noel’s return isn’t imminent, but it could happen in December, at which point the team will have to determine how he fits into a frontcourt rotation that also features Richaun Holmes. As Kyler tweets, the fourth-year big man – who will be playing for a potential payday this season – would prefer a situation where he has a more prominent role, rather than one where he splits time with Embiid.

Although Noel’s contract is up in 2017, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency, meaning any team that trades for him this year would have a leg up to keep him. Noel’s contract situation may provide more incentive for the Sixers to move him, since the team would have to either re-sign him to a huge deal or lose him for nothing if they don’t deal him by this year’s deadline. Okafor, on the other hand, will remain on his rookie contract through the 2018/19 season.

And-Ones: Embiid, Okafor, D-League

November 6th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers will re-evaluate Joel Embiid‘s minutes restriction in approximately six weeks, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays. “As I understand it, [the medical staff] will not escalate [the restrictions] until Christmas and then it will only be judged,” Brown said before Saturday’s game against the Cavs. “It may stay the same then too.”

The team’s medical staff currently mandates that Embiid won’t play more than 24 minutes in a given game, and the Cameroon native isn’t thrilled about the restrictions. “I can only play 20 minutes,” Embiid lamented. “I felt like I could play more but you have to trust the process you have to trust those guys.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Conditioning remains an issue for both Embiid and Jahlil Okafor, McMenamin passes along in the same piece. “I think at times going beyond 4-5 minute segments is not good for them,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said. “I feel like fatigue sets in and given the amount of time that they’ve been able to play, practice, et cetera.” Okafor also has a mandated 24-minute restriction while he recovers from a knee injury.
The Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s D-League affiliate, have waived Maurice Creek, Damontre Harris and Rasean Simpson, according to D-League Digest (Twitter link).
The Greensboro Swarm, the affiliate of the Hornets, have waived Ky Howard, Keala King, Ron Mvouika and Jamie Skeen, D-League Digest reports (Twitter link).

Sixers Notes: Ilyasova, Embiid, Okafor, Brown

November 2nd, 2016 at 10:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

After being traded four times since June of 2015, Ersan Ilyasova believes he might finally be with the right organization, relays Brian Seltzer of NBA.com. The Turkish power forward had just left the practice court in Oklahoma City on Tuesday when he was informed that he had been dealt to Philadelphia in exchange for Jerami Grant. He got a late flight to meet his new team in Charlotte and was in uniform for tonight’s game against the Hornets. “As soon as I start kind of thinking about it, I think it’s a really good situation,” Ilyasova said. “This team is building, they’ve got a lot of pieces, obviously, and being part of it is a huge thing.”

There’s more news tonight out of Philadelphia:

Sixers coach Brett Brown has been limited in the amount of time he can play big men Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor together because both are on minute restrictions, notes ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. Embiid is playing his first NBA games after missing two seasons with a twice-broken foot, and Okafor is being brought along slowly after knee surgery in March. Brown realizes the situation is temporary, but said it can be complicated to get Embiid and Okafor on the floor together. “You just feel like it is cookie-cutter stuff,” he said. “It is a very rigid road map and that is OK. Nobody is crying about it. It is a challenge.”
Embiid made a quick impression on Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing, who serves as an assistant with the Hornets, posts Tom Haberstroh on ESPN Now. After watching Embiid on film, Ewing exlaimed to head coach Steve Clifford, “Woah. This guy? He might be the most talented center in the game.”
Despite their wealth of young talent, the Sixers are still making familiar mistakes that cost them games, writes Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The latest example came Tuesday when Philadelphia let a big lead slip away in a loss to Orlando. “Every time you lose a close game, you wonder what you would do differently,” Brown said. “… I understand that we’re all looking at how do you close that game out, and I think that, even with a healthy group, the difference probably is that you have Ben Simmons with the ball, and I’m sure that Joel Embiid is right in that mix.”

Atlantic Notes: Okafor, Embiid, Lopez, Lin

October 29th, 2016 at 7:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

Minutes restrictions have made it difficult for the Sixers to get Jahlil Okafor and Joel Embiid on the court at the same time, but Okafor tells Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly that he sees a bright future for the pairing. The two young centers teamed up for the first time in today’s games with the Hawks, but only for about two minutes in the second quarter. “I think once we figure it out, we can really dominate together,” Okafor said. There have been rumors for months that the Sixers are interested in making a trade to clear up their logjam in the middle with Okafor, Embiid and Nerlens Noel.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

It’s only the third game of the season, but the Nets are already giving center Brook Lopez a day off, notes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn, in the middle of a stretch of four games in six nights, plans to be careful about Lopez’s minutes all season. The ninth-year center, who has been through three foot surgeries, compares it to being on a pitch count. “What we’re trying to do with Brook is take the long-term approach, just build him up as the season goes on and increase his minutes. We have a plan in place,’’ said new Nets coach Kenny Atkinson. “It’s learning the system, it’s looking at a long-term approach to how we’re going to build him up in terms of minutes as the season goes on. He’s got some miles on him.”
Atkinson is ready for a new chapter with Jeremy Lin after contributing heavily to “Linsanity” in New York, writes Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. Atkinson was an assistant with the Knicks at the time and did a lot of individual work with Lin. “He knows I came here to take on this challenge with him,” Lin said. “And deep down inside, I know that when he got this job, the first thing he wanted to do was come and get me. We’re in this together. And we’re deeply embedded in this challenge.”
New Raptors GM Jeff Weltman doesn’t mind working in anonymity, relays Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun. Team president Masai Ujiri gets credit for building last year’s Eastern Conference finalist, but Weltman, who was promoted to his new position last month, is happy to be part of the team. “It’s easier [to be unknown],” said Weltman. “I truly think the only way we’re going to win is if we don’t have egos. That’s Masai’s belief also. It’s what we try and instill in all our players. … I was brought up to believe that and Masai’s known that for a long time. There’s no one here trying to pat themselves on the back or get noticed. We just want to win. All the rewards will come from that.”

Sixers Exercise Options On Embiid, Okafor, Stauskas

October 26th, 2016 at 1:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The Sixers have exercised their 2017/18 team options on the rookie contracts of Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, and Nik Stauskas, according to the RealGM.com transactions log. For Embiid and Stauskas, that means having their fourth-year options picked up. It’s a third-year option for Okafor.

While Embiid has missed his first two NBA seasons due to injuries, he’s set to finally make his regular-season debut, and the Sixers remain very excited about his long-term potential. The cost of his 2017/18 option is $6.1MM. He’ll be extension-eligible in 2017 and eligible for restricted free agency in 2018.

Okafor, meanwhile, is coming off a rookie season in which he averaged 17.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 53 contests. While Okafor’s offensive production was solid, he missed some time with injuries, didn’t mesh particularly well with Nerlens Noel, and needs to improve on the defensive end. Still, his $4.995MM salary for 2017/18 is extremely affordable.

As for Stauskas, his hold on a roster spot for 2016/17 appeared tenuous over the last few weeks, but now that he’s made the team, he’ll also have his $3.807MM salary for 2017/18 guaranteed. Given his struggles during his first two NBA seasons, that decision comes as a bit of a surprise. However, Philadelphia is well below the salary floor this year and only had about $20MM in guaranteed salary on its books for ’17/18 entering today, so it’s not as if the Sixers can’t afford to eat Stauskas’ salary if they decide to waive him.

The full breakdown of the 2016 decisions on 2017/18 team options can be found right here.