In the 101-81 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown emptied his bench with 2:09 remaining in the game. However, Jahlil Okafor remained on the bench despite ‘We Want Okafor!' chants from Sixers fans.
Following the game, Joel Embiid believes Okafor ‘deserves a chance,' but Brown has a different approach according to Sarah Todd of Philly.com:
Article Continues Below“To just hoist somebody a little tiny window of minutes isn’t something that interests me,” Brown said after the 101-81 win against Portland. “I say that out of respect to [Okafor]. I don’t think that puts him in a position that I want to put him in.”
As Okafor's time in Philadelphia will end one way or another after the Sixers declined his team option, Brown made the right decision not to put the third-year center in the game. It is somewhat an unspoken rule to not put players under these current circumstances in during garbage time.
With the Sixers currently 11-7, the hope is there will be a resolution sooner than later. As they will not make a trade just to make a trade, it will be interesting to see if a team is willing to give up the necessary pieces for the former third overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.