http://www.csnphilly.com/philadelphia-76ers/brett-brown-we-want-see-nerlens-and-joel-little-bit BRETT BROWN: 'WE WANT TO SEE NERLENS AND JOEL A LITTLE BIT' CAMDEN, N.J. — Just as the experimental phase of one bigs pairing seems to be closing, another could be beginning. The Sixers took a look at the combination of Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor for six straight games. They went 1-5 with the two centers in the starting lineup together and there were evident struggles on both ends of the floor. Now that the Sixers are working Nerlens Noel back into the rotation, they are interested in seeing how he can play with Embiid. “We want to see Nerlens and Joel a little bit,” Brett Brown said. “I think the Jahlil-Joel pairing we’ve seen. ... I think it’s fair to say, mostly, there’s nothing 100 percent certain with all of this.” The Sixers initially planned to pair Embiid and Okafor for a total of eight games and then evaluate when they returned from their recent road trip. They ended up doing it for six after both players sat out a game at the end of the West Coast series. During that time, Noel received an increase in minutes on back-to-back nights in their absence. He jumped from a season high of 10 minutes to averaging 20.5 in the last two games. The Sixers have a new look to examine with Noel in the mix again.
No one's advocating cutting McCollum--a good trade would bring back similar value, just in a different package. It may not be a shooting guard so, yes, shooting guard would get worse. But it could be a big upgrade at power forward or center. I also don't think the Blazers should trade McCollum for a downgrade in talent just to break up the Lillard/McCollum duo. If the only available trades would weaken the roster overall, then yes, you keep McCollum. But I'd hope that Olshey could find a similarly-talented player and the roster wouldn't take a step back. Again, it doesn't have to be guard for guard.
You guys need to wake up from that dream. Rasheedfan2005 has a better chance of spending the night naked with Jessica Alba than the Blazers have of trading Crabbe & scraps for Noel.
That's been my thought, as well, but Colangelo has been doing his best to kill Noel's value, so I can't say with any assurance that he wouldn't make that swap.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! To quote George Carlin: Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits... I just posted about this in another thread yersterday: Dammit! I was hoping to pry Noel from PHI before they came to the inevitable conclusion that he's a much better player than Jahlil Okafor. For this very reason, Okafor was the one of the two that was originally on the block back in June and July, but they couldn't get any takers for Marresse Speights 2.0. Then Noel had the audacity to call the situation in PHI "silly", got thrown into Bryan Colaneglo's dog house and became the odd center out in PHI. Now, after actually watching Okafor play next to Embiid, PHI is realizing they've been shopping the wrong player. Crap, crap, crap! The best we can hope for is either Noel is still rusty and plays like crap, or that Embiid and Noel are just a terrible fit next to each other. Both suffered when playing next to Okafor. I can't imagine the two together could be any worse than either paired with Okafor. God dammit! BNM
I'd gladly take Okafor. He's 4th best DRtg on Philly for guys with 200+ minutes. It's actually improved over last season. His 1.7 blocks/36 indicates some rim protection. It beats Plums' 1.3. On the offensive side of the court, he's clearly got game. He's not going to stretch the floor, but he is going to give us post scoring. No more live by the jumpshot, die by the jumpshot. The classic inside/outside game. P&R. He's only 21. He will flourish if he gets out of Philly.
Maybe Colangelo is trying to kill Noels value because Noel will be a RFA next summer, and taking contract offers from other GMs?
Yet another reason to NOT trade C.J. - continued improvement. We all know he justifiably won MIP last season. The thing that was most impressive, to me, was that his increased production was not just a function of increased playing time. Most players, when thrust into a larger role against better competition see their efficiency decrease. Last year, C.J. was just the opposite. With his expanded role, his efficiency actually increased. That's pretty rare at this level. This morning, I was perusing basketball-reference.com when I noticed something equally, perhaps even more impressive. As much as his efficiency improved last year, it's taken an even bigger jump this year. His raw per game numbers are up again, but with a very slight decrease in PT, the per game increase isn't as noticeable as last year. He's actually scoring 2.1 more PTS/G while playing slightly fewer minutes and attempting slightly fewer FGA/G. His shooting percentages have improved across the board every year he's been in the league. Here they are: 2013-14: FG% = .416, 3FG% = .375, 2FG% = .449, eFG% = .500, FT% = .676, TS% = .521 2014-15: FG% = .436, 3FG% = .396, 2FG% = .460, eFG% = .511, FT% = .699, TS% = .534 2015-16: FG% = .448, 3FG% = .417, 2FG% = .463, eFG% = .517, FT% = .827, TS% = .544 2016-17: FG% = .479, 3FG% = .430, 2FG% = .502, eFG% = .549, FT% = .901, TS% = .591 I don't think I've ever seen that before, a player who improved every one of his shooting percentages for four straight seasons, especially as his role and PT also increased. After a full season averaging over 20ppg, he isn't taking anyone by surprise. He's been scouted and game planned, yet he continues to improve his efficiency. I think the fact that his shooting percentages have increased again this season is impressive, but I think it's even more impressive that the largest jumps in his eFG% and TS% have come the season AFTER winning MIP. Hell, if I had an MIP vote, it would go to C.J, again this year (assuming he keeps this up). As a result, his PER has also taken a substantial jump every year: 2013-14: PER = 9.0 2014-15: PER = 13.1 2015-16: PER = 17.7 2016-17: PER = 20.5 What does this all mean? To me, it means we have not yet seen the best C.J. McCollum has to offer. He is 25-years old, about to enter the prime of his career and still improving at a very impressive rate. To me, trading a player this young who has shown significant improvement four years in a row is extremely shortsighted. We still don't know how good this guy can be. If you are going to trade him you wait until his performance levels off, when you know what you actually have, not when he's still improving by leaps and bounds. And before we start the Dame and C.J. can't coexist talk (for the billionth time), answer me this: How well did they coexists from Christmas 2015 through the end of the regular season last year when the team won at a 53-win pace, and how well did they coexist in the playoffs when the team advanced to the 2nd round and played the 73-win defending champions to a near standstill? Before we go down that well worn path yet again, let's just see how well they coexist in Stotts' new defensive schemes. Better still, let's see how well they coexist when they are paired with at least one elite defensive front court player (paging Mr. Noel, Mr. Nerlens Noel, please pick up the white courtesy phone...). And, to suggest we should trade the ever improving C.J. McCollum because we have the highly overpaid and under-producing Allen Crabbe waiting to assume his role is just flat out insanity. I'm not even going to bother to post the same numbers for Crabbe. Feel free to look them up. His "improvement" is nowhere near as impressive. In fact, it kind of sucks. He had one decent year, a contract year no less, where his PER jumped from 8.7 to 12.2 (from shitty to meh). He got paid and he has regressed to the sub-10 PER player he's always been. He's a one-dimensional stand still shooter who can't create his own shot or create for others. He got paid and regressed. C.J. also got paid, but continues to improve at an impressive rate. Trade C.J. McCollum? I think not! BNM
You still force Noel to play out of position at PF on defense. He can handle it, but it doesn't make maximum use of his biggest strength. With Embiiid having 3-point range they coexist fine on offense and at the end of the day Embiid + Noel >>>>>>> Embiid + Okafor. Fuck it! BNM
That's true, but it's a bit like having two great centerfielders and playing one in right. On some level, you might feel like it's a bit of a waste--on the other hand, having two guys with great range is a nice dynamic to have, even if right fielders don't generally need as much range as centerfielders. Maybe you play Noel closer to the rim and unleash Embiid as an all-court destroyer. Noel can jump out and defend on the perimeter, but he's probably better served being the last line of defense and letting Embiid roam more. I think Philadelphia will ultimately realize that you build around a Simmons/Noel/Embiid front line and look to trade Okafor before his value totally tanks.
This was my biggest fear and why I wanted to get Noel ASAP. I liked the situation much better when Bryan Colangelo was butt hurt and jerking Noel around for calling the situation silly. I want that Bryan Colangelo back until at least the 15th. So fucking close! BNM
I want Nerlens so bad on this team. AYE PHILLY WANNA GIVE US ONE OF YOUR FRONTCOURT PLAYERS, NERLENS ABOVE ALL PLEASE
Luckily they aren't very smart. Neil could make this happen but are the rumors true and he actually doesn't want it to happen and would rather ride this season out? we can get Nerlens I am sure. We need this dude for seasons to come. He is the answer to our issues right now.
