The Philadelphia 76ers blew out the Portland Trail Blazers at home on Wednesday, scoring a lopsided 101-81 win for their fourth victory in five games. Despite a huge chunk of garbage time available for some of the Sixers' bench players to see action, head coach Brett Brown resisted the idea of deploying embattled center Jahlil Okafor to the floor.
For the seventh straight contest, Okafor didn’t get any minutes. The last time he played was on Nov. 7 in a 104-97 win over the Utah Jazz, but he played in just three minutes, recording more fouls (3) than points (0). Overall, Okafor has appeared in just two of the team’s first 17 games this season.
It’s hard not to feel for Jahlil Okafor, a college star at Duke and a much-ballyhooed prospect entering the 2015 NBA Draft in which the Sixers took him as the third-overall pick. Even Okafor’s teammate, Joel Embiid, wants to see Brown get the former Blue Devil out of the doghouse, per Sarah Todd of the Inquirer.
“I feel like he deserves a chance, and I support him,” Embiid said. “I’ve got to have my teammate’s back.”
The Sixers have reportedly been exploring trade options for Jahlil Okafor, who’s made it clear that he wants to be with another team that will have better use of him.
While the emergence of Joel Embiid has played a part in Okafor getting buried at the end of the bench, the Duke product is still a talented big man who could start for most teams. The 21-year-old Okafor, who averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in 53 games in his rookie year, is bound to be a free agent at the end of this season after Philly declined his 2018-19 option last month.
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