Options open for Okafor
Colangelo wants to find best situation for team, player
One surgery, one draft, one preseason, one regular season, one trade deadline and two lotteries have come and gone, and the 76ers still employ Jahlil Okafor.
With no secret that they have been shopping him — he missed a game last year because they were so close to a deal — can they afford to wade into another draft without settling that issue?
“We’re not talking about our roster right now in terms of what we’re doing,” Bryan Colangelo said Wednesday at the Sixers’ training complex. “I want to find a situation that’s great for us and great for Jahlil. And if that means him staying here, then that’s great.”
Colangelo was at the Sixers’ training facility, essentially to celebrate gaining the No. 3 overall pick in the June 22 draft. But with that same No. 3 opportunity two years ago, the Sixers selected
“We’re not talking about our roster right now in terms of what we’re doing. I want to find a situation that’s great for us and great for Jahlil. And if that means him staying here, then that’s great.” – Sixers’ Bryan Colangelo
Okafor, who averaged 17.5 points as a rookie, injured his knee, then was trapped on a roster with too many centers.
Brett Brown attempted to pair him in a frontcourt with Joel Embiid, to unsightly results. And since the Sixers are building around Embiid, that makes Okafor available.
Often on a minute-restriction as his knee was slow to fully heal, Okafor played just 50 games last season, averaging 11.8 points. He so struggled on defense that at times Brown was more comfortable with 2015 secondround pick Richaun Holmes as his center.
“He’s a great kid and a great player,” Colangelo said of Okafor. “And we will see how he fits with this group.”
••• As the Sixers begin to catalog their options with the No. 3 overall draft pick, they still have not enjoyed
one minute of regular-season basketball from the No. 1 overall pick from last year.
Ben Simmons broke his foot in training camp then missed his entire rookie season while recovering. Yet apparently he still is not playing competitive, fiveon-five basketball.
Still, the Sixers insist they are pleased with his progress.
“Right now, he is doing very well,” Colangelo said. “He is playing three-onthree basketball. He is on the court. He is showing good signs. And we are excited about what he is going to bring to this team next year.”
••• Though Embiid said that he expects to play in all 82 games in the coming season, he also said he had “no idea” when he would be cleared to begin preparing for the season after knee surgery. Mixed message? “He is recovering from a knee procedure and he is doing very well,” Colangelo said. “He’s showing all signs of being healthy and able to
play. And we got a taste in January of what this team was capable of when he was playing on all cylinders.
“That’s what we’re hopeful for and that’s what we’re excited about.”
Colangelo was noncommittal about extending Embiid’s four-year rookie contract. That, he said, would have to be done before the day of the Sixers’ season
opener. The schedule has yet to be revealed.
••• Pressed Wednesday to declare the rebuilding process over and the Sixers ready to compete at the highest NBA level … Colangelo passed.
“The future will continue to roll forward always, because we are always going to be looking to build, not
only on a short-term basis but on a long-term basis,” he said. “And we do have assets stockpiled. It’s great that you can have developing, young talent and look forward to continuing to add pieces. It’s not that we are not in the ‘now.’ We turned the corner on that a long time ago.
“Last year we were proud that we had an 18-game improvement and an overall change in culture and mood. We are doing that with more talent coming in. But it’s always about building and taking a step forward and finding ways to get better.”
••• Furkan Korkmaz, a shooting guard selected by the Sixers with the No. 26 pick in the first round of the last draft, recently was named the best young player in the Basketball Championship League while playing in Turkey.
The Sixers have had a team of scouts watching the 19-year-old compete. But with two years remaining on his Turkish contract, the negotiations to bring him to the Sixers remain complicated.
“I had a chance to sit down with Furkan recently in Spain when he was competing at a pretty high level of basketball,” Colangelo said. “I think he’s emotionally ready. I think physically he has a long way to go.”
The Sixers believe Korkmaz has grown an inch and may be as tall as 6-8.
“I thought he might have been flipping his hair,” Colangelo said, smiling. “But he is growing. He has good ball skills. He’s a good decision-maker, a shot-maker. He does a lot of good things. A very interesting player.”
••• NOTES >> Colangelo would not commit to including the Sixers’ first-round draft choice on his summer league roster. … The Sixers have had a 93 percent renewal rate on season tickets from last year, according to Colangelo, who added that they have sold 3,800 new season packages. … In the second draft round, the Sixers will select at Nos. 36, 39, 46 and 50.