Alright... If Embiid is healthy, what next?

[Sportal]

I know this is possibly one of the bigger "what ifs" of the last 10 years in basketball when it comes to drafts. But what if Embiid is healthy? What do you guys think will happen with the whole Noel/Saric(?)/Okafor/Embiid/Simmons or Ingram situation, assuming Embiid actually plays and has an impact like people thought he might. He could come in and dominate, for all we know. What would you do?

I don't think they're going to know much until they get to pre-season. They don't seem like they plan on playing him, till at least then. I assume the first off the boat would be Okafor, right?

[artificial]

Even if Embiid plays next season, he will still be carrying the injury stigma (for a good reason), and it would be stupid to trade the other bigs right away with that risk on the table.

If Embiid dominates and proves that he can stay healthy for at least two seasons, then yeah, will have to trade someone. But right now? Hopefully not.

[AI09]

I know this is possibly one of the bigger "what ifs" of the last 10 years in basketball when it comes to drafts. But what if Embiid is healthy? What do you guys think will happen with the whole Noel/Saric(?)/Okafor/Embiid/Simmons or Ingram situation, assuming Embiid actually plays and has an impact like people thought he might. He could come in and dominate, for all we know. What would you do?

I don't think they're going to know much until they get to pre-season. They don't seem like they plan on playing him, till at least then. I assume the first off the boat would be Okafor, right?

Well Brett Brown already said Embiid will come off the bench and probably won't play b2b games until he proves his body can hold. If we pick Simmons I could see Saric getting dealt for immediate perimeter help. If we don't trade one of the 3 centers on draft night than we will probably experiment with them until atleast the trade deadline. Another thing to note is Noel in my opinion is the most likely to get moved he will become a RFA after next season and I don't know if sixers want to give him a 90 million dollar contract when they got big men like Oak Simmons Embiid Saric all on rookie deals and could potentially command more than noel. If I were Philly I'd try to use Noel and/or saric to try and get a good PG or trade both noel and saric for pick number two and move foward with Okafor Embiid Simmons Ingram.

[fourkicks44]

I know this is possibly one of the bigger "what ifs" of the last 10 years in basketball when it comes to drafts. But what if Embiid is healthy? What do you guys think will happen with the whole Noel/Saric(?)/Okafor/Embiid/Simmons or Ingram situation, assuming Embiid actually plays and has an impact like people thought he might. He could come in and dominate, for all we know. What would you do?

I don't think they're going to know much until they get to pre-season. They don't seem like they plan on playing him, till at least then. I assume the first off the boat would be Okafor, right?

Look brother, there is a lot of speculation here. However I gotta say hypothetically if Embid pans out Okafor has to go. Never wanted to be here so good luck to him. The Sixers need commitment. What has troubled this franchise is crap about who wants to be here and who doesn't. Barkley should have never been let go, but he wanedt to leave. AI i don't believe ever wanted to leave and by his indications now and they fact he came back never wanted to. Yes this is a business, but to me this indicates a problem. A cultural one that needs to be addressed.

Think about this:



Be it a work of fiction but look at the bible for example, this means alot in the physcy and culture of this city. I wasn't till early in another thread that another poster put up this gif and I retaliated with another as follows:





This says more than words can.

Okafor has played his heart out this year (when healthy) but going forward I feel you gotta want to be here. I hate to say it but it works out for LA and that is why the got more banners than us. That is why Chuck left and business decisions are just that, but to be the best at basketball and to make it in this city it requires heart... all of it. Just like another no.1 pick I know of...

Real Talk.

[poido123]

Look brother, there is a lot of speculation here. However I gotta say hypothetically if Embid pans out Okafor has to go. Never wanted to be here so good luck to him. The Sixers need commitment. What has troubled this franchise is crap about who wants to be here and who doesn't. Barkley should have never been let go, but he wanedt to leave. AI i don't believe ever wanted to leave and by his indications now and they fact he came back never wanted to. Yes this is a business, but to me this indicates a problem. A cultural one that needs to be addressed.

Think about this:



Be it a work of fiction but look at the bible for example, this means alot in the physcy and culture of this city. I wasn't till early in another thread that another poster put up this gif and I retaliated with another as follows:





This says more than words can.

Okafor has played his heart out this year (when healthy) but going forward I feel you gotta want to be here. I hate to say it but it works out for LA and that is why the got more banners than us. That is why Chuck left and business decisions are just that, but to be the best at basketball and to make it in this city it requires heart... all of it. Just like another no.1 pick I know of...

Real Talk.

Excellent post


watched a great A.I. doco recently. Have a lot of respect for that guy.

[miggyme1]

i say sixers come out and give embiid some quality minutes to try and build his trade stock. Plenty of teams in need of a center. Okafor is clearly the long term stay in philly.

I really don't see a fit for embiid or noel but both have starter potential. If sixers do it right that can definitely build a pretty good team in the next 3 years but they definitely have to get value from shipping noel and embiid.

If they plan on keeping them they will be the worst franchise the league has ever seen...thus trumping the clippers

[DukeDelonte13]

Embiid is a game changer if his body holds up, and that's a big if.

I think if he's truly healthy his ceiling is the best C in the league. They guy can do it all and he has great size and athletic ability for his size.

I just wonder how much of his athleticism has been sapped due to the injury and not trusting his foot.

[Unreal234]

PG: Simmons
SG: Saric
SF: Okafor
PF: Noel
C: Embiid

They will revolutionize big ball en route to 3 championships. I don't see any team competing with them to be honest.

[Marchesk]

PG: Simmons
SG: Saric
SF: Okafor
PF: Noel
C: Embiid

They will revolutionize big ball en route to 3 championships. I don't see any team competing with them to be honest.

[Mawly-G]

PG: Simmons
SG: Saric
SF: Okafor
PF: Noel
C: Embiid

They will revolutionize big ball en route to 3 championships. I don't see any team competing with them to be honest.

Gross

[kshutts1]

Poor choice of thread title, IMO, because the thread should get more hits than it has.

That said, as soon as Sixers won the lottery I had this exact thought.
Embiid, Noel, Okafor, Saric are all front-court players. Simmons and Ingram project as front-court players. You could slot either of these picks at the 3, but it would be a Lamar Odom instance in that he CAN do it, but probably shouldn't.

So what do they do with their logjam? It's really only a question because they seem more interested in trying to be a real NBA team now.

The three options I see:
Keep pick and all players
Trade pick, keep players
Keep pick, trade player(s)

I think they should trade a player(s), and I also believe that's what they'll do. Their whole tanking strategy has finally culminated in the top pick, and in a good year for it, so I don't see them trading that long sought after pick. Also, they need guards... badly.

Okafor is the most likely one to be traded, as Embiid and Saric are too unknown to give up much value, and Noel is the most important healthy big they have.

So who trades them a good guard for Okafor?

[Mawly-G]

Poor choice of thread title, IMO, because the thread should get more hits than it has.

That said, as soon as Sixers won the lottery I had this exact thought.
Embiid, Noel, Okafor, Saric are all front-court players. Simmons and Ingram project as front-court players. You could slot either of these picks at the 3, but it would be a Lamar Odom instance in that he CAN do it, but probably shouldn't.

So what do they do with their logjam? It's really only a question because they seem more interested in trying to be a real NBA team now.

The three options I see:
Keep pick and all players
Trade pick, keep players
Keep pick, trade player(s)

I think they should trade a player(s), and I also believe that's what they'll do. Their whole tanking strategy has finally culminated in the top pick, and in a good year for it, so I don't see them trading that long sought after pick. Also, they need guards... badly.

Okafor is the most likely one to be traded, as Embiid and Saric are too unknown to give up much value, and Noel is the most important healthy big they have.

So who trades them a good guard for Okafor?

Jeff Teague for Okafor?

Al Horford might be gone in Free Agency this summer, so ATL could part ways with Teague and rebuild the frontcourt with Okafor. Also, I'm pretty sure they want to move forward with Schroder as their starting point guard. I have a strong feeling that Teague will get traded this summer.

[RedBlackAttack]

Embiid is a rare talent with his combination of size, athleticism and skills, especially given the fact that he didn't even start playing basketball until he was in high school.

It's such a shame that his first two years have been lost to injury. He has almost been completely forgotten outside of Philly.... maybe even inside of Philly.

But I still hold out some hope for the big guy. You take the BPA in this draft -- consensus seems to lean toward Simmons. If he is as good as some think and Embiid ever gets healthy, sort out the details later.

There are a ton of good PGs and wings in the NBA right now. It's much harder to find big, skilled guys. Embiid has elite center potential and Simmons could be Draymond Green 2.0.

Noel and Okafor could either be good third fiddles or traded for better fits.

[PP34Deuce]

They will play Embiid and see where he's at physically. When they find out if he's good to go.. They won't trade him nor will they play him a lot. Noel is their backup option that can play the 5 and is ok at the 4. They will give Okafor dominant touches to drive up his value and create a narrative where they can get a first round pick or packaged player and 1st for Okafor.

[Inferno]

The Sixers win 20 games instead of 15, then trade him away