Not buying this at all. Why would the Sixers do this? It makes little sense. Noel isn't capable of making a difference in terms of wins and losses. On the other hand, having him play would allow him to further develop, work on his non-existent offensive game, and having him deal with the physicality of the NBA game.
Would you say Kelly Olynyk isn't capable of making a difference? What about some of the rookies last year like Harrison Barnes, Jonas, Tyler Zeller, Anthony Davis?
Yes, I'd say that Kelly Olynyk isn't capable of making a difference this year, at least a significant one. I'd also say that Barnes, Jonas and Zeller had negligible effects on their teams as rookies. Anthony Davis could impact a team right away, but he's one of the 5 or 6 best prospects of the past decade, and he still didn't really impact the Hornets' W/L record much last year.