Noel wasn’t going to stay with Philly, they haven’t even negotiated yet, and an offer sheet was surely incoming. It was a bad return, but Nerlens had to go to keep payroll room for a franchise player. And despite his solid defensive play, he’d never put up enough points to claim full time starter status with all the incoming assets in the next two drafts, and a blatant need for a quality scorer in the frontcourt, which is even more pressing with a Simmons playing point forward next year and having past shooting issues.

Sucks to kick the rebuild down the road again, but this was really their only move with Okafor’s demand cratering. They’ll move Okafor at the draft and get a better return.