Philadelphia 76ers NBA Trade Rumors: Bulls Are Still Chasing Jahlil Okafor
Many basketball enthusiasts thought Jahlil Okafor would be traded by now, but surprisingly, he's still in Philadelphia with the deadline just a few hours away. Will the 76ers pull the trigger on a trade before the trade window closes?
Right now, a number of teams are still interested in Okafor. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the Chicago Bulls are still pushing for a trade and sources say they have been trying to convince the Sixers to acquire stretch forward Nikola Mirotic in return as part of the deal.
The Bulls have considered starting Mirotic at power forward this season. Unfortunately, he played badly during the preseason and Taj Gibson got the job instead. Mirotic has continued to struggle throughout the season and it seems the Bulls may have given up on him already.
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The Sixers just traded Ersan Ilyasova to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Tiago Splitter and a second-round pick, so they will need someone to act as a floor-spacer. Mirotic can do that for them and he's also a solid rebounder.
On the other hand, Okafor can give the Bulls an interior scorer. He has a lot of holes in his game, but Okafor has always been a gifted scorer inside the paint. Gibson, Robin Lopez, Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio will not draw a double team in the post, but Okafor can. Furthermore, the Bulls can also hide his deficiencies on the defensive end by pairing him with good defensive players like Gibson and Jimmy Butler.
One thing is clear, though. The Sixers have to do something to clear out the logjam at the center position and moving Okafor may fix the problem. But they will have to accept an offer soon or else they will miss their chance to trade him this season. NBA.com reporter David Aldridge seems to believe a trade is inevitable, but no deal has been agreed upon so far.
