Nerlens Noel continues to imply that he wants out of the Philadelphia 76ers. Noel is currently working his way back to the court after he underwent a knee surgery.
"I don't think the roster's changed," Noel said, referring to the Sixers logjam at the Sixer's bigs. The Sixers have Jahlil Okafor, Dario Saric, Ben Simmons, and Joel Imbiid.
The Sixers have definitely fallen in love with Imbiid and his minutes restriction have recently been changed from 24 to 28. They continue to be patient with Jahlil Okafor and Dario Saric. They also can't wait to have Simmons on the court as Sixers coach Brett Brown have expressed that he is excited to play him at the point, much like how Jason Kidd is using Giannis Antetokoumnpo in Milwaukee. That makes Noel's future in Philadelphia to be uncertain.
"Everybody understands it is a little bit awkward," Brown said. "Everybody understands there is some level of logjam at the position," he added. Noel will be a restricted agent on July 1, 2017. If he hits the free agency market, several teams will most likely offer him a contract especially those that desperately needs rim protection.
Teams like the Boston Celtics, the Phoenix Suns, the Dallas Mavericks, and the New Orleans Pelicans could use Noel's services. He's an athletic 6-foot-11 guy who has elite shot blocking ability and quick lateral movement. Not to mention he's still 22 years old.
His offense still has a long way to go but if he can land to a team where he only needs to do things like what DeAndre Jordan does for the Los Angeles Clippers, then he'll be an invaluable asset.
Most Likely Destination
Noel is a native of Boston, Masachussets. He posted on his twitter account that he loves his hometown. Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics is reportedly interested in Noel but a deal is unlikely to happen soon. Right now, an ideal scenario for Noel would be to go to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Blazers is a high scoring team who continues to lose games because of their inability to come up with stops. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are prolific scorers but are poor defenders. Their best rim protector is Al-Farouq Amino but he has missed several games with a calf injury.
The Philadelphia 76ers lacks scoring at the guard position. The Blazers gave Allen Crabbe a big contract in the offseason but has not lived up to expectations so far. With Crabbe's skill set and Evan Turner starting to find his groove, Crabbe will be an ideal trade piece for them to get Noel.