Okafor is a better post scorer right now. He's refined his offense over the years and knows what works. Embiid has elite potential but he's still figuring out his game. A few times he tried to make too many moves against Adams rather than just going up strong.
Not sure I agree, but you have the right to your opinion.
Watching both play, Embiid appear to have a far greater array of moves. While Okafor tends to just try to use his bulk and size to back guys down and shoot over them from 5 feet away...Embiid has the hooks, the up and unders, the fadeaway jumpers - everything looks comfortable.
Of course it's going to take time for him to get used to NBA competition and get comfortable, but his superior mobility and greater array of moves in the paint make him a superior post scorer IMHO.
Okafor is just too darn slow and predictable. If he's up against a smaller guy then he'll get his points by just shooting over him, but if he's up against an intelligent defender with some size he's going to struggle.
Embiid on the other hand - he has so many different moves that you just don't know what he's going to pull out, and that will make him incredibly difficult to defend.
Noel and Embiid should work but Noel has to play PF which he failed badly at last year.
The only reason it worked badly last year is because he was playing alongside Okafor. When you have one guy who can't score and one guy who can't defend - and neither of those two guys can stretch the floor - then it's a recipe for disaster.
Put Noel alongside big with an inside/out game and I think he'd be just fine - much like our current Amir/Horford arrangement.
I think it is a mental block rather than physical. I think Okafor and Embiid could work well offensively. Having two good offense bigs puts a lot of pressure on the opponent's defense. It really doesn't matter because eventually they're going to want to start Simmons at PF.
I'm not so sure.
Problem with Okafor is that he is utterly 100% mediocre (or worse) in every single aspect of the game aside from post scoring. You could theoretically play him alongside Embiid, but as good as Embiid is - he still isn't the quickest guy around laterally. That front court would probably struggle defending any team that has one or two quick and/or stretch bigs.
With Embiid's ability as a rebounder and rim protector, you really want to keep him close to the basket. That means whoever plays alongside him needs to have the defensive mobility / versatility to be able to chase quicker bigs and challenge stretch bigs on the perimeter. Okafor can't do that, so if you put him in at PF you forced to pull Embiid away from the basket and chase people around the perimeter. Not only is that probably a bad idea health wise for Embiid, it's also counter-productive because you're leaving Okafor (a poor rebounder and so-so rim protector) close to the basket.
By playing Noel alongside Embiid you have a quick guy who can defend all 5 positions and chase guys around all day on D, allowing Embiid to stay close to the basket and protect the paint.
Neither guy is a perfect combination with Embiid, but Noel is the better fit of the two.