At least one of the NBA trade rumors may come to fruition in the coming days as Jahlil Okafor was made to sit out a game because of an impending trade.
Marc Stein of ESPN gave the lowdown on the details of Okafor's DNP(did not play) from his coach Brett Brown.
"As the All-Star break gets closer, possible deals have more of a chance,'' Brown said. "Although speculation is rampant all throughout stuff, you learn as the deadline gets closer, the reality that something could happen goes to a higher level. It's still fluid but if you see me not play him, that's probably the reason."
Brown is the coach and he has no control over what the Sixers' front office is planning.
"You feel conflicted, tremendously conflicted because you've spent a lot of time with these guys and they're very young," Brown said, according to CSNPhilly.com. "I hope that when they seek guidance, I give them good advice. Trying to coach them and educate them and make them aware that this will always be a part of your NBA life and it's at many times no reflection of the individual. It's part of just the normal drumbeat of an NBA season and you're not going to find many people that stay with one team their whole career."
It was a great game for the Sixers as they snapped a season-best 13-game winning streak from the Miami Heat. They also played without Joel Embiid and relied on Nerlens Noel as their center. The Sixers seemed more effective playing up-tempo basketball, and thus the trade would be justified.
There were talks about Okafor with the New Orleans Pelicans, with Tyreke Evans as the trade bait along with former Sixers point guard Jrue Holiday as well. However, there are also talks that the Chicago Bulls are interested in bringing Okafor back home. Okafor is a Windy City native and gained prominence as a high school player at Whitney Young.
The trade pieces being mentioned are Taj Gibson and possibly Rajon Rondo, the names also mentioned if the Bulls make a play for Carmelo Anthony. Other veterans like Nikola Mirotic might also be involved in the deal.