Noel Frustration: Celtics trade coming?

[Endless Paradise]

I mean, he and his camp have all but made public trade demands over the last few months, lol.

Last night was just Noel's 1st 2nd game back but I thought Brett Brown bungled the situation.  In the 1st half Noel played 2 four minute stretches without Embiid or Noel which wasn't bad.  In the 2nd half, Noel didn't play at all even though there was a 4 or 5 minute stretch where Embiid and Okafor weren't on the floor. 

Having their 3 bigs isn't optimal but it doesn't take rocket science to work out a decent rotation where Embiid gets 28min and Okafor and Noel get at least 20min each.  At least one of their bigs should be on the court at all times.  Illyasova should not be getting 27 minutes when all three of their bigs are available.  The Noel/Embiid combo needs to be used quite a bit as it projects to be their best big combo.  Okafor/Embiid should be used too.  I would avoid playing the Okafor/Noel combo.

You're saying this like Ilyasova isn't by far the best floor spacer they have among their bigs. Embiid/Okafor shouldn't be played more; it's a bad combination.

This situation isn't Brown's fault by any means; he doesn't have an optimal big rotation. One of the three bigs has to go. It simply isn't tenable to keep all three and there's no use in pretending that it can work.

Who said anything about keeping all three?  The point is they have all three of them now so Brown needs to do a better job getting them all playing time.  They need Noel playing 20min+ so they can get a reasonable return for him before the deadline.  There is no excuse for having a 4 minute period with Embiid, Okafor and Noel all on the bench.  There is no excuse for not trying out the Noel/Embiid combo.  Embiid/Okafor is better than Illyasova/Okafor.

They play like trash together. Brown can "do a better job" of getting them all playing time, but it's not going to help the team. His concern is with trying to help the team win games, not appease individual players by playing them as often as they feel they should be played.

That entire organization is a mess right now, and it's all directly a result of "the process." And Brown is somewhat guilty, too, though it was obviously management that put him in this situation to begin with.

There's been at least a dozen posters here who have called this from the start. You simply can't draft three starting-caliber centers consecutively who aren't versatile in their playing positions and expect to truly develop them.

This whole Embiid/Okafor pairing seems fishy, though, and it seems like it's coming from management rather than Brown. Why would they even try that when Simmons seemingly has the 4 spot locked up already? Do they expect to play Simmons at the 3 or what?

Honestly, I feel like the only people who thought this situation was in any way tenable were desperate Philly fans. It was obvious from the jump that at least one and probably two of Embiid/Okafor/Noel would have to be traded.

[tazzmaniac]

I mean, he and his camp have all but made public trade demands over the last few months, lol.

Last night was just Noel's 1st 2nd game back but I thought Brett Brown bungled the situation.  In the 1st half Noel played 2 four minute stretches without Embiid or Noel which wasn't bad.  In the 2nd half, Noel didn't play at all even though there was a 4 or 5 minute stretch where Embiid and Okafor weren't on the floor. 

Having their 3 bigs isn't optimal but it doesn't take rocket science to work out a decent rotation where Embiid gets 28min and Okafor and Noel get at least 20min each.  At least one of their bigs should be on the court at all times.  Illyasova should not be getting 27 minutes when all three of their bigs are available.  The Noel/Embiid combo needs to be used quite a bit as it projects to be their best big combo.  Okafor/Embiid should be used too.  I would avoid playing the Okafor/Noel combo.

You're saying this like Ilyasova isn't by far the best floor spacer they have among their bigs. Embiid/Okafor shouldn't be played more; it's a bad combination.

This situation isn't Brown's fault by any means; he doesn't have an optimal big rotation. One of the three bigs has to go. It simply isn't tenable to keep all three and there's no use in pretending that it can work.

Who said anything about keeping all three?  The point is they have all three of them now so Brown needs to do a better job getting them all playing time.  They need Noel playing 20min+ so they can get a reasonable return for him before the deadline.  There is no excuse for having a 4 minute period with Embiid, Okafor and Noel all on the bench.  There is no excuse for not trying out the Noel/Embiid combo.  Embiid/Okafor is better than Illyasova/Okafor.

They play like trash together. Brown can "do a better job" of getting them all playing time, but it's not going to help the team. His concern is with trying to help the team win games, not appease individual players by playing them as often as they feel they should be played.

That entire organization is a mess right now, and it's all directly a result of "the process." And Brown is somewhat guilty, too, though it was obviously management that put him in this situation to begin with.

There's been at least a dozen posters here who have called this from the start. You simply can't draft three starting-caliber centers consecutively who aren't versatile in their playing positions and expect to truly develop them.

This whole Embiid/Okafor pairing seems fishy, though, and it seems like it's coming from management rather than Brown. Why would they even try that when Simmons seemingly has the 4 spot locked up already? Do they expect to play Simmons at the 3 or what?

As Brown has said, Simmons will be their PG running their offense.  On defense, he'll mostly defend the 3 or 4 depending on who else is on court.  They've already played Saric some at the 3 when Embiid and Okafor are on the court. 

[jpotter33]

I mean, he and his camp have all but made public trade demands over the last few months, lol.

Last night was just Noel's 1st 2nd game back but I thought Brett Brown bungled the situation.  In the 1st half Noel played 2 four minute stretches without Embiid or Noel which wasn't bad.  In the 2nd half, Noel didn't play at all even though there was a 4 or 5 minute stretch where Embiid and Okafor weren't on the floor. 

Having their 3 bigs isn't optimal but it doesn't take rocket science to work out a decent rotation where Embiid gets 28min and Okafor and Noel get at least 20min each.  At least one of their bigs should be on the court at all times.  Illyasova should not be getting 27 minutes when all three of their bigs are available.  The Noel/Embiid combo needs to be used quite a bit as it projects to be their best big combo.  Okafor/Embiid should be used too.  I would avoid playing the Okafor/Noel combo.

You're saying this like Ilyasova isn't by far the best floor spacer they have among their bigs. Embiid/Okafor shouldn't be played more; it's a bad combination.

This situation isn't Brown's fault by any means; he doesn't have an optimal big rotation. One of the three bigs has to go. It simply isn't tenable to keep all three and there's no use in pretending that it can work.

Who said anything about keeping all three?  The point is they have all three of them now so Brown needs to do a better job getting them all playing time.  They need Noel playing 20min+ so they can get a reasonable return for him before the deadline.  There is no excuse for having a 4 minute period with Embiid, Okafor and Noel all on the bench.  There is no excuse for not trying out the Noel/Embiid combo.  Embiid/Okafor is better than Illyasova/Okafor.

They play like trash together. Brown can "do a better job" of getting them all playing time, but it's not going to help the team. His concern is with trying to help the team win games, not appease individual players by playing them as often as they feel they should be played.

That entire organization is a mess right now, and it's all directly a result of "the process." And Brown is somewhat guilty, too, though it was obviously management that put him in this situation to begin with.

There's been at least a dozen posters here who have called this from the start. You simply can't draft three starting-caliber centers consecutively who aren't versatile in their playing positions and expect to truly develop them.

This whole Embiid/Okafor pairing seems fishy, though, and it seems like it's coming from management rather than Brown. Why would they even try that when Simmons seemingly has the 4 spot locked up already? Do they expect to play Simmons at the 3 or what?

As Brown has said, Simmons will be their PG running their offense.  On defense, he'll mostly defend the 3 or 4 depending on who else is on court.  They've already played Saric some at the 3 when Embiid and Okafor are on the court.

That means he'll function as the 3 or 4 in the lineup building. So I guess you could say it could go Embiid, Okafor, Simmons at the 5, 4, 3, but that lineup seems destined to fail. The Embiid/Okafor pairing has already been terrible together, and Embiid is already complaining about having to play out on the perimeter with that lineup. Adding another non-shooter to the mix will only make things worse.

They might try some different lineups out, but it seems clear that they'll be best at Guard, Guard, Covington, Simmons, Embiid, which actually projects to be a decent young frontcourt. I just don't see Okafor as anything but a backup in Philly, unless Embiid is hurt.

[Endless Paradise]

Noel's done in Philly; he has no future there. The best bet is Okafor being a back-up, but realistically speaking, he's getting traded, too.

[SHAQATTACK]

Get ....Noel, Boogie and George and hang # 18

[tazzmaniac]

I mean, he and his camp have all but made public trade demands over the last few months, lol.

Last night was just Noel's 1st 2nd game back but I thought Brett Brown bungled the situation.  In the 1st half Noel played 2 four minute stretches without Embiid or Noel which wasn't bad.  In the 2nd half, Noel didn't play at all even though there was a 4 or 5 minute stretch where Embiid and Okafor weren't on the floor. 

Having their 3 bigs isn't optimal but it doesn't take rocket science to work out a decent rotation where Embiid gets 28min and Okafor and Noel get at least 20min each.  At least one of their bigs should be on the court at all times.  Illyasova should not be getting 27 minutes when all three of their bigs are available.  The Noel/Embiid combo needs to be used quite a bit as it projects to be their best big combo.  Okafor/Embiid should be used too.  I would avoid playing the Okafor/Noel combo.

You're saying this like Ilyasova isn't by far the best floor spacer they have among their bigs. Embiid/Okafor shouldn't be played more; it's a bad combination.

This situation isn't Brown's fault by any means; he doesn't have an optimal big rotation. One of the three bigs has to go. It simply isn't tenable to keep all three and there's no use in pretending that it can work.

Who said anything about keeping all three?  The point is they have all three of them now so Brown needs to do a better job getting them all playing time.  They need Noel playing 20min+ so they can get a reasonable return for him before the deadline.  There is no excuse for having a 4 minute period with Embiid, Okafor and Noel all on the bench.  There is no excuse for not trying out the Noel/Embiid combo.  Embiid/Okafor is better than Illyasova/Okafor.

They play like trash together. Brown can "do a better job" of getting them all playing time, but it's not going to help the team. His concern is with trying to help the team win games, not appease individual players by playing them as often as they feel they should be played.

That entire organization is a mess right now, and it's all directly a result of "the process." And Brown is somewhat guilty, too, though it was obviously management that put him in this situation to begin with.

There's been at least a dozen posters here who have called this from the start. You simply can't draft three starting-caliber centers consecutively who aren't versatile in their playing positions and expect to truly develop them.

This whole Embiid/Okafor pairing seems fishy, though, and it seems like it's coming from management rather than Brown. Why would they even try that when Simmons seemingly has the 4 spot locked up already? Do they expect to play Simmons at the 3 or what?

As Brown has said, Simmons will be their PG running their offense.  On defense, he'll mostly defend the 3 or 4 depending on who else is on court.  They've already played Saric some at the 3 when Embiid and Okafor are on the court.

That means he'll function as the 3 or 4 in the lineup building. So I guess you could say it could go Embiid, Okafor, Simmons at the 5, 4, 3, but that lineup seems destined to fail. The Embiid/Okafor pairing has already been terrible together, and Embiid is already complaining about having to play out on the perimeter with that lineup. Adding another non-shooter to the mix will only make things worse.

They might try some different lineups out, but it seems clear that they'll be best at Guard, Guard, Covington, Simmons, Embiid, which actually projects to be a decent young frontcourt. I just don't see Okafor as anything but a backup in Philly, unless Embiid is hurt.

Embiid and Okafor have only played parts of 3 games together on the court.  It is amazing how quickly people write off things that they have preconceived notions won't work.  With Noel out of the picture, Embiid and Okafor can each get about 20 minutes alone at center and share the court 8 minutes.  When that occurs, Embiid should predominantly play center defensively and PF offensively.  The Sixers current guards are terrible so anything that gets one of them out of the lineup is a plus.  Embiid and Okafor should benefit greatly from Simmons running their offense. 

The Sixers have been putting Simmons through the same training that worked to improve Embiid's jump shot.  If it works on Simmons, we need to do an under the table deal with them.  Smart mysteriously disappears for a few months and reappears as a good decent (can't get greedy) 3pt shooter and Ainge, in a temporary moment of insanity which he has no memory of, trades a 1st for Hollis Thompson.       

[jpotter33]

Seems like a lot of Sixers fans are pretty upset about this whole Noel thing, too, and they're pretty ticked that Okafor is getting the minutes over him, who is playing pretty crappy tonight so far.

EDIT: Haha, Ilyasova and Saric at the 4 and 5, but there's no minutes for Noel? lol A lot of Sixers fans are going nuts over that lineup lol

[celticsclay]

I mean, he and his camp have all but made public trade demands over the last few months, lol.

Last night was just Noel's 1st 2nd game back but I thought Brett Brown bungled the situation.  In the 1st half Noel played 2 four minute stretches without Embiid or Noel which wasn't bad.  In the 2nd half, Noel didn't play at all even though there was a 4 or 5 minute stretch where Embiid and Okafor weren't on the floor. 

Having their 3 bigs isn't optimal but it doesn't take rocket science to work out a decent rotation where Embiid gets 28min and Okafor and Noel get at least 20min each.  At least one of their bigs should be on the court at all times.  Illyasova should not be getting 27 minutes when all three of their bigs are available.  The Noel/Embiid combo needs to be used quite a bit as it projects to be their best big combo.  Okafor/Embiid should be used too.  I would avoid playing the Okafor/Noel combo.

You're saying this like Ilyasova isn't by far the best floor spacer they have among their bigs. Embiid/Okafor shouldn't be played more; it's a bad combination.

This situation isn't Brown's fault by any means; he doesn't have an optimal big rotation. One of the three bigs has to go. It simply isn't tenable to keep all three and there's no use in pretending that it can work.

Who said anything about keeping all three?  The point is they have all three of them now so Brown needs to do a better job getting them all playing time.  They need Noel playing 20min+ so they can get a reasonable return for him before the deadline.  There is no excuse for having a 4 minute period with Embiid, Okafor and Noel all on the bench.  There is no excuse for not trying out the Noel/Embiid combo.  Embiid/Okafor is better than Illyasova/Okafor.

They play like trash together. Brown can "do a better job" of getting them all playing time, but it's not going to help the team. His concern is with trying to help the team win games, not appease individual players by playing them as often as they feel they should be played.

That entire organization is a mess right now, and it's all directly a result of "the process." And Brown is somewhat guilty, too, though it was obviously management that put him in this situation to begin with.

There's been at least a dozen posters here who have called this from the start. You simply can't draft three starting-caliber centers consecutively who aren't versatile in their playing positions and expect to truly develop them.

This whole Embiid/Okafor pairing seems fishy, though, and it seems like it's coming from management rather than Brown. Why would they even try that when Simmons seemingly has the 4 spot locked up already? Do they expect to play Simmons at the 3 or what?

As Brown has said, Simmons will be their PG running their offense.  On defense, he'll mostly defend the 3 or 4 depending on who else is on court.  They've already played Saric some at the 3 when Embiid and Okafor are on the court.

That means he'll function as the 3 or 4 in the lineup building. So I guess you could say it could go Embiid, Okafor, Simmons at the 5, 4, 3, but that lineup seems destined to fail. The Embiid/Okafor pairing has already been terrible together, and Embiid is already complaining about having to play out on the perimeter with that lineup. Adding another non-shooter to the mix will only make things worse.

They might try some different lineups out, but it seems clear that they'll be best at Guard, Guard, Covington, Simmons, Embiid, which actually projects to be a decent young frontcourt. I just don't see Okafor as anything but a backup in Philly, unless Embiid is hurt.

Embiid and Okafor have only played parts of 3 games together on the court.  It is amazing how quickly people write off things that they have preconceived notions won't work.  With Noel out of the picture, Embiid and Okafor can each get about 20 minutes alone at center and share the court 8 minutes.  When that occurs, Embiid should predominantly play center defensively and PF offensively.  The Sixers current guards are terrible so anything that gets one of them out of the lineup is a plus.  Embiid and Okafor should benefit greatly from Simmons running their offense. 

The Sixers have been putting Simmons through the same training that worked to improve Embiid's jump shot.  If it works on Simmons, we need to do an under the table deal with them.  Smart mysteriously disappears for a few months and reappears as a good decent (can't get greedy) 3pt shooter and Ainge, in a temporary moment of insanity which he has no memory of, trades a 1st for Hollis Thompson.     

I think brown made public comments about the pairing not doing very well. The 76ers fans are also pretty p---ed that they are jerking around embiid to try and placate a bench level player like okafor. They need to lose okafor fast

[Future Celtics Owner]

I mean, he and his camp have all but made public trade demands over the last few months, lol.

Last night was just Noel's 1st 2nd game back but I thought Brett Brown bungled the situation.  In the 1st half Noel played 2 four minute stretches without Embiid or Noel which wasn't bad.  In the 2nd half, Noel didn't play at all even though there was a 4 or 5 minute stretch where Embiid and Okafor weren't on the floor. 

Having their 3 bigs isn't optimal but it doesn't take rocket science to work out a decent rotation where Embiid gets 28min and Okafor and Noel get at least 20min each.  At least one of their bigs should be on the court at all times.  Illyasova should not be getting 27 minutes when all three of their bigs are available.  The Noel/Embiid combo needs to be used quite a bit as it projects to be their best big combo.  Okafor/Embiid should be used too.  I would avoid playing the Okafor/Noel combo.

You're saying this like Ilyasova isn't by far the best floor spacer they have among their bigs. Embiid/Okafor shouldn't be played more; it's a bad combination.

This situation isn't Brown's fault by any means; he doesn't have an optimal big rotation. One of the three bigs has to go. It simply isn't tenable to keep all three and there's no use in pretending that it can work.

Who said anything about keeping all three?  The point is they have all three of them now so Brown needs to do a better job getting them all playing time.  They need Noel playing 20min+ so they can get a reasonable return for him before the deadline.  There is no excuse for having a 4 minute period with Embiid, Okafor and Noel all on the bench.  There is no excuse for not trying out the Noel/Embiid combo.  Embiid/Okafor is better than Illyasova/Okafor.

They play like trash together. Brown can "do a better job" of getting them all playing time, but it's not going to help the team. His concern is with trying to help the team win games, not appease individual players by playing them as often as they feel they should be played.

That entire organization is a mess right now, and it's all directly a result of "the process." And Brown is somewhat guilty, too, though it was obviously management that put him in this situation to begin with.

There's been at least a dozen posters here who have called this from the start. You simply can't draft three starting-caliber centers consecutively who aren't versatile in their playing positions and expect to truly develop them.

This whole Embiid/Okafor pairing seems fishy, though, and it seems like it's coming from management rather than Brown. Why would they even try that when Simmons seemingly has the 4 spot locked up already? Do they expect to play Simmons at the 3 or what?

As Brown has said, Simmons will be their PG running their offense.  On defense, he'll mostly defend the 3 or 4 depending on who else is on court.  They've already played Saric some at the 3 when Embiid and Okafor are on the court.

That means he'll function as the 3 or 4 in the lineup building. So I guess you could say it could go Embiid, Okafor, Simmons at the 5, 4, 3, but that lineup seems destined to fail. The Embiid/Okafor pairing has already been terrible together, and Embiid is already complaining about having to play out on the perimeter with that lineup. Adding another non-shooter to the mix will only make things worse.

They might try some different lineups out, but it seems clear that they'll be best at Guard, Guard, Covington, Simmons, Embiid, which actually projects to be a decent young frontcourt. I just don't see Okafor as anything but a backup in Philly, unless Embiid is hurt.

Embiid and Okafor have only played parts of 3 games together on the court.  It is amazing how quickly people write off things that they have preconceived notions won't work.  With Noel out of the picture, Embiid and Okafor can each get about 20 minutes alone at center and share the court 8 minutes.  When that occurs, Embiid should predominantly play center defensively and PF offensively.  The Sixers current guards are terrible so anything that gets one of them out of the lineup is a plus.  Embiid and Okafor should benefit greatly from Simmons running their offense. 

The Sixers have been putting Simmons through the same training that worked to improve Embiid's jump shot.  If it works on Simmons, we need to do an under the table deal with them.  Smart mysteriously disappears for a few months and reappears as a good decent (can't get greedy) 3pt shooter and Ainge, in a temporary moment of insanity which he has no memory of, trades a 1st for Hollis Thompson.     

I think brown made public comments about the pairing not doing very well. The 76ers fans are also pretty p---ed that they are jerking around embiid to try and placate a bench level player like okafor. They need to lose okafor fast

Okafor has a ton of potential to realistically get much better on BOTH ends of the floor. I've been saying it for a long time but and am sticking to my guns....Okafor would be great on our team and with Brad.

[slightly biased bias fan]

I find it funny how Philly lovers (no one on this post specifically) will constantly bag Boston players and point out the odd Philly standout but will never admit how wrong they are about non Celtics such as Noel, Okafor and even Randle. I personally really like Noel but he is a role player with high defensive up side and that's it, his ceiling seems to be Chandler if he puts in the work and changes his attitude. Okafor has been portrayed sometimes on here as the second coming of Duncan then downgraded to star but in reality he is a top level back up centre or a low level starter (Kanter clone).

I think people poke at Smart because we watch him every game and have the ability to critique everything where as other teams you just see stats or highlights. Smart game isn't translating to the stats because Stevens is letting him run the team and take shots that he isn't accustom to but if Stevens has trust in his abilities to take those shots how can you say any different? If Stevens didn't believe in Smarts ceiling there is no way his role would be so large. Smart has a huge ceiling as we know from players such as Michael Redd, Jimmy Butler, Bradley that shooting is an attainable quality if you put the time in.

[tazzmaniac]

I mean, he and his camp have all but made public trade demands over the last few months, lol.

Last night was just Noel's 1st 2nd game back but I thought Brett Brown bungled the situation.  In the 1st half Noel played 2 four minute stretches without Embiid or Noel which wasn't bad.  In the 2nd half, Noel didn't play at all even though there was a 4 or 5 minute stretch where Embiid and Okafor weren't on the floor. 

Having their 3 bigs isn't optimal but it doesn't take rocket science to work out a decent rotation where Embiid gets 28min and Okafor and Noel get at least 20min each.  At least one of their bigs should be on the court at all times.  Illyasova should not be getting 27 minutes when all three of their bigs are available.  The Noel/Embiid combo needs to be used quite a bit as it projects to be their best big combo.  Okafor/Embiid should be used too.  I would avoid playing the Okafor/Noel combo.

You're saying this like Ilyasova isn't by far the best floor spacer they have among their bigs. Embiid/Okafor shouldn't be played more; it's a bad combination.

This situation isn't Brown's fault by any means; he doesn't have an optimal big rotation. One of the three bigs has to go. It simply isn't tenable to keep all three and there's no use in pretending that it can work.

Who said anything about keeping all three?  The point is they have all three of them now so Brown needs to do a better job getting them all playing time.  They need Noel playing 20min+ so they can get a reasonable return for him before the deadline.  There is no excuse for having a 4 minute period with Embiid, Okafor and Noel all on the bench.  There is no excuse for not trying out the Noel/Embiid combo.  Embiid/Okafor is better than Illyasova/Okafor.

They play like trash together. Brown can "do a better job" of getting them all playing time, but it's not going to help the team. His concern is with trying to help the team win games, not appease individual players by playing them as often as they feel they should be played.

That entire organization is a mess right now, and it's all directly a result of "the process." And Brown is somewhat guilty, too, though it was obviously management that put him in this situation to begin with.

There's been at least a dozen posters here who have called this from the start. You simply can't draft three starting-caliber centers consecutively who aren't versatile in their playing positions and expect to truly develop them.

This whole Embiid/Okafor pairing seems fishy, though, and it seems like it's coming from management rather than Brown. Why would they even try that when Simmons seemingly has the 4 spot locked up already? Do they expect to play Simmons at the 3 or what?

As Brown has said, Simmons will be their PG running their offense.  On defense, he'll mostly defend the 3 or 4 depending on who else is on court.  They've already played Saric some at the 3 when Embiid and Okafor are on the court.

That means he'll function as the 3 or 4 in the lineup building. So I guess you could say it could go Embiid, Okafor, Simmons at the 5, 4, 3, but that lineup seems destined to fail. The Embiid/Okafor pairing has already been terrible together, and Embiid is already complaining about having to play out on the perimeter with that lineup. Adding another non-shooter to the mix will only make things worse.

They might try some different lineups out, but it seems clear that they'll be best at Guard, Guard, Covington, Simmons, Embiid, which actually projects to be a decent young frontcourt. I just don't see Okafor as anything but a backup in Philly, unless Embiid is hurt.

Embiid and Okafor have only played parts of 3 games together on the court.  It is amazing how quickly people write off things that they have preconceived notions won't work.  With Noel out of the picture, Embiid and Okafor can each get about 20 minutes alone at center and share the court 8 minutes.  When that occurs, Embiid should predominantly play center defensively and PF offensively.  The Sixers current guards are terrible so anything that gets one of them out of the lineup is a plus.  Embiid and Okafor should benefit greatly from Simmons running their offense. 

The Sixers have been putting Simmons through the same training that worked to improve Embiid's jump shot.  If it works on Simmons, we need to do an under the table deal with them.  Smart mysteriously disappears for a few months and reappears as a good decent (can't get greedy) 3pt shooter and Ainge, in a temporary moment of insanity which he has no memory of, trades a 1st for Hollis Thompson.     

I think brown made public comments about the pairing not doing very well. The 76ers fans are also pretty p---ed that they are jerking around embiid to try and placate a bench level player like okafor. They need to lose okafor fast

There are plenty of Sixers fans that are so diehard Noel that they think getting rid of Okafor will make Noel happy and willing stay to backup Embiid.   There's no reason not to try out the Okafor/Embiid pairing this season.  If it works out that's great for them.  If not, they just cut back Okafor's minutes to backup Embiid.  Embiid sharing the court with Okafor 8-10 minutes a game isn't going to stunt his growth.  I do think Brown starting Okafor is stupid.  Embiid's 1st stint should be alone to get him off to a good start. 

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/Dcorrigan50/status/810660466695536640

https://twitter.com/blanchardJRB/status/810206523540566016

[celticsclay]

https://twitter.com/Dcorrigan50/status/810660466695536640

https://twitter.com/blanchardJRB/status/810206523540566016

Noel is a lot better player than okafor. They have really bungled this.

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/Dcorrigan50/status/810660466695536640

https://twitter.com/blanchardJRB/status/810206523540566016

Noel is a lot better player than okafor. They have really bungled this.

Yep. I still wonder if the whole starting Okafor and sitting Noel deal is an attempt to showcase Okafor to trade him rather than Noel. Though at this point I think Noel is as good as gone from there with how they've handled his situation.

They've probably legitimately cost him $50 million over his next contract between playing him out of position all last year and not playing him at all this year, along with the mismatched roster.

[trickybilly]

https://twitter.com/Dcorrigan50/status/810660466695536640

https://twitter.com/blanchardJRB/status/810206523540566016

Noel is a lot better player than okafor. They have really bungled this.

Yep. I still wonder if the whole starting Okafor and sitting Noel deal is an attempt to showcase Okafor to trade him rather than Noel. Though at this point I think Noel is as good as gone from there with how they've handled his situation.

They've probably legitimately cost him $50 million over his next contract between playing him out of position all last year and not playing him at all this year, along with the mismatched roster.

I keep thinking that. His value must be at an all time low right now.. there is no way you give up Smart now. Rozier or nada.