Philadelphia 76ers trade rumors: Sixers want to keep Okafor, not Noel

Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers. | Wikimedia Commons / Ed

The Philadelphia 76ers have long been in trade rumors and continue to find themselves in the same situation as the season rolls on.

At the moment, the Sixers have a 4-13 record and place last in the Atlantic Division. They have also dropped their last three games in succession as of this writing.

They still have a lot of promise and moving forward, they are expected to be a good team. However, there are still a lot of things to improve on and trading players may still be the best way to go.

Among the players they have, the three big men Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor appear to be the players on the block as the Sixers have an overload of talent in the center position.

However, looking at some talks, it appears that the Sixers have a preference on who to keep and who to let go. Rumor has it that the team would rather keep Okafor if they had to choose between him and Noel.

Embiid is the most utilized player among the three this year and his numbers are outstanding. It is understandable why the Sixers want to keep him.

So far, Embiid is averaging 17.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game which are great numbers for someone who plays a limited number of minutes.

Meanwhile, Okafor's numbers have dropped this year as he has a shorter playing time this season. Last year, he averaged 17.5 points while playing around 30 minutes per game. However this year, he only gets to play 21 minutes a night and is averaging 10.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

For Noel, he is out due to injury and he is trying to regain his health. This may be the biggest reason why the Sixers are willing to let go of him. He certainly has the talent, but the mounting injuries may take their toll on the player soon.