It's always amazing when you look at Jahlil Okafor's stat line at the end of a blowout Sixers loss -- it usually looks a whole lot better than you remember it feeling, especially if you don't look at pesky numbers like plus-minus. Last night's was a perfect example: You wouldn't say he had a good game, certainly, but hey, 16 points on 7-11 shooting in 26 minutes, only one turnover... also only four rebounds and zero assists, but not too bad, right? Sixers lose 113-96, but who cares when you get the opportunity to watch Jah cook like that?
Sixers fans are certainly hoping that execs are reading the box scores and not much else; particularly those in the New Orleans Pelicans front office, as it was announced yesterday that the Pellies are thinking of dealing a future first-rounder for the chance to pair Jah on a front line with Anthony Davis. It's far from certain yet -- there are also talks between NO and the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez, and the Sixers might be getting a little greedy in hoping we can get Jrue Holiday back from the Big Easy as well -- but even a lightly-protected first-rounder for Jah would be an absolute coup at this point, especially from a team who might still very well be lottery-bound next season.
In the meantime, the Sixers will almost certainly keep losing as we play Okafor 25 minutes a night. Not like it's entirely his fault, as just about nobody on the team is playing particularly well right now without sweet JoJo to rally around. But it's hard to imagine any rival GMs watching Okafor show up late for defensive assignments, deliver passes to cutters a half-second too late to be useful, and get out-muscled and out-positioned for rebounds and still think this is a young piece to anchor your franchise.
But nonetheless: Between the Bulls and Pelicans, two teams seem to still have at least tentative interest in dealing for Jah, and as pro-Process, anti-Okafor spokesperson Mike Levin has oft-stated, it only takes one. The Colangelos can be cute with trying to maximize their extortion on a Jahlil deal for the next few weeks if they so desire, but it still needs to get done before this saga threatens to drag on (and possibly engulf Nerlens, still a legitimate asset) any further. Until then, sure: Wow, did you see how dazzling Jahlil was in that Pistons game last night??