Ford: Sixers can't get top 5 pick for Okafor; Noel has more value

[Future Celtics Owner]

I honestly can not believe how stupid GM's in general are and how they let group-think and popular opinion(they do want to keep their job remember that) rule their decisions.
-btw I think Ainge is better than the regular GM and willing to take the team in what direction the circumstances allow him to.


If this is true and we could get him for the 6th pick then I'd think about trading for the 6th.....which I've been harping about for a bit, so we can draft Buddy Hield @6. We know we have the pieces to get that done and we automatically know Crowder for the 6th would go through, but we would need to get more back or offer a dif type of trade.....it all depend on:

Does the current climate and league trends/styles effect assets/players that Ainge beleievs are undervalued and will perform much better in the next season? Ainge has said he could take the team in a different direction, it all depends on what can get done. IDK to me the current climate is  bearing us low hanging fruit, but the fruit is younger players and would it would shake up our team/core.

[mr. dee]

I can see Bulls trading Rose for Okafor.

[KG Living Legend]

 No way am I taking Rose for Okafor, not sure I agree with Ford Either.

[LarBrd33]

That is impossible.

Just ask LB.  We need at least the 3rd pick and some other players for the Sixers to consider.  Because Okafor would go higher than any player picked 3rd in this draft.

Right, LB?

We'll see.   Draft is a week away.  I'm not going to get my hopes up on our chances of acquiring Okafor just yet.   It would be pretty amazing, though.

[A Future of Stevens]

Imagine we are able to acquire the 6th pick by trading up, move it for okafor, and select bender. They cover up each other's deficiencies perfectly. Rebounding would be questionable to say the least, but every other aspect they would fit.

[Eddie20]

That is impossible.

Just ask LB.  We need at least the 3rd pick and some other players for the Sixers to consider.  Because Okafor would go higher than any player picked 3rd in this draft.

Right, LB?

We'll see.   Draft is a week away.  I'm not going to get my hopes up on our chances of acquiring a top 5 pick for Okafor just yet.   It would be pretty amazing, though.

Fixed it for you.

[chambers]

I don't believe anything that Chad Ford says. The only way that this is true is possibly because of his knee injury and the uncertainty of whether or not he's 100% to go.

I seriously doubt that Noel has more value at this point, even with Okafor's knee injury too.

[oldtype]

I don't believe anything that Chad Ford says. The only way that this is true is possibly because of his knee injury and the uncertainty of whether or not he's 100% to go.

I seriously doubt that Noel has more value at this point, even with Okafor's knee injury too.

Ford doesn't know much about hoops but he is very plugged in to team sources. For this sort of speculation-ish rumor I'd trust him more than almost anyone.

[Granath]

That is impossible.

Just ask LB.  We need at least the 3rd pick and some other players for the Sixers to consider.  Because Okafor would go higher than any player picked 3rd in this draft.

Right, LB?

We'll see.   Draft is a week away.  I'm not going to get my hopes up on our chances of acquiring a top 5 pick for Okafor just yet.   It would be pretty amazing, though.

Fixed it for you.

I LOL'd.

[LooseCannon]

Okafor seems like a horrible fit for the Celtics.

Most people seem to come up with trade ideas by looking at teams with assets they want then trying to justify who those teams would want to make a trade.  It's better to look for teams that might want to make a trade and then figure out what assets they can send.

The Kings have the sort of front office that might think that pairing Cousins and Okafor is a good idea, thinking that it could resemble a Gasol/Z-Bo frontline, and an owner that might want a splashy trade for a big name.  I propose the idea that Philly trades Okafor to the Kings for #8 plus either WCS or Kosta Koufos.  The 76ers flip their new center to a third team for additional picks/assets.  That team could be Boston.

[CelticSooner]

I don't believe anything that Chad Ford says. The only way that this is true is possibly because of his knee injury and the uncertainty of whether or not he's 100% to go.

I seriously doubt that Noel has more value at this point, even with Okafor's knee injury too.

Ford doesn't know much about hoops but he is very plugged in to team sources. For this sort of speculation-ish rumor I'd trust him more than almost anyone.

Well if that is true Ford said this today on Russillo and Kanell. Didn't exactly make me feel all warm inside about a trade:

Jump to 21 min mark

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=16260575

[jpotter33]

I don't believe anything that Chad Ford says. The only way that this is true is possibly because of his knee injury and the uncertainty of whether or not he's 100% to go.

I seriously doubt that Noel has more value at this point, even with Okafor's knee injury too.

Ford doesn't know much about hoops but he is very plugged in to team sources. For this sort of speculation-ish rumor I'd trust him more than almost anyone.

Well if that is true Ford said this today on Russillo and Kanell. Didn't exactly make me feel all warm inside about a trade:

Jump to 21 min mark

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=16260575

Eh, I think Ford knows the draft and the incoming players, but also look at the trades he proposed a couple of days ago. Once they're actually professionals, I don't think he's all that knowledgeable about players and their values in the league. IT, Bradley, and Crowder are probably three top-ten contracts in the league, but "we're a team that's full of nice players that nobody wants" is absolute hogwash. Cleveland would absolutely kill for a Crowder or Bradley, and so would OKC, especially Bradley. Sure, outside of Smart, we don't have a Wiggins, Parker, Okafor, or Noel to trade to a team blowing it up, but there are numerous teams out there that want our number three pick.

Further, I've heard way too many teams covet Dunn for me to believe that there's not a trade out there for the number three.

[dreamgreen]

I don't believe anything that Chad Ford says. The only way that this is true is possibly because of his knee injury and the uncertainty of whether or not he's 100% to go.

I seriously doubt that Noel has more value at this point, even with Okafor's knee injury too.

Ford doesn't know much about hoops but he is very plugged in to team sources. For this sort of speculation-ish rumor I'd trust him more than almost anyone.

Well if that is true Ford said this today on Russillo and Kanell. Didn't exactly make me feel all warm inside about a trade:

Jump to 21 min mark

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=16260575

TP thanks, said what I was thinking about the whole thing.

[EvilEmpire]

Even if Danny and Philly work out a deal for the #3 for Okafor (maybe Philly has to throw in one of there later 1st rders) I don't think Danny pulls the trigger until the Celtics are on the clock. There is the off chance, granted only .1%, that the Lakers draft someone else and Ingram falls to 3.

[crimson_stallion]

I'm not sure why people are so shocked by this - I've been saying it the whole time. 

Okafor is a one dimension player - his only talent is his back to the basket game.  NBA teams rarely ever place high value on guys who only can only do one thing at a high level - it's been made obvious all through history.  It makes perfect sense - if I were an NBA GM, I wouldn't place a high value on one dimensional players either.

That's why a guy like Butler (who can pass, handle the ball, score, defend, rebound, get to the line) is so much more valuable then a guy like Bradley (who can only really shoot and defend). 

There's a simple reason for this - teams want to know they can get constant production out of you.  Nobody is going to grab 15 rebounds every night.  Nobody is going to score 30 points every night.  Nobody is going to get 10 assists every night or hold their opponent to 25% shooting every night. 

Teams want to know that if your one great skill happens to be off one night, you can do other things to help your team win....but if Okafor isn't scoring in the paint, he's a major liability in every other aspect of the game.  His ability do dominate / produce is entirely dependent on favorable match ups on any given night.

Noel has the defensive versatility to be able to defend quick bigs, long bigs, perimeter oriented bigs, and he can switch onto guards and forwards because of his foot speed.  That makes him a valuable player.  But even if (by some chance) the defensive matchup doesn't go his way, he can still impact the game with his rebounding - which isn't great, but is at least on par with what you expect from a center.  Plus you never have to worry about his conditioning and he doesn't seem to have any character concerns that might be problematic.

It's blatantly obvious that if the Sixers want to trade Okafor rather than Noel, then they believe Noel is the more valuable player to them.  Other GM's think the same thing, for all of the above reasons.