NBA Trade Rumors: Jahlil Okafor Leaving 76ers to Join Knicks?

Jul 19, 2016 09:02 AM EDT

Due to a surplus in their big men, the Philadelphia 76ers could end up trading away one of its centers. According to new rumors, the team could send Jahlil Okafor to the New York Knicks.

Last week, 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo admitted that the team has too any centers. Aside from Okafor, they currently have Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Dario Saric. Although these are all talented players, Colangelo said that the surplus has created an unbalance within the team.

"There's no question you can look at our roster and say we have some unbalance," he said according to Real GM. "We're top heavy. We have some good talent here."

"We have to figure out what we're going to do with everybody," he added. "When you look at the calls coming in, quite frankly, everyone's trying to poach a big man from us."

Colangelo, however, did not go into detail regarding which teams have approached the 76ers for a possible trade. But as noted by Sportsrageous, one of these could be the Knicks.

By engaging in a trade with the 76ers for Okafor, the Knicks could offer Courtney Lee, Kylee O'Quinn and possibly a first round pick in exchange. Getting Lee would be good for Philadelphia since given the number of centers they have, having a reliable shooting guard to control the game from below would balance out the team's overall performance.

For Okafor, on the other hand, going to the Knicks will also help the team a lot because the center can offer a lot of support for New York's Kristaps Prozingis and Joakim Noah. With these three, the Knicks will be able to create a strong inside presence.

However, Colangelo knows the real value of Okafor, which is probably why he wouldn't engage in trade talks for the athlete.

"We're not going to make a bad deal just to make a deal," he said. "I think we can be a better basketball team if we can distribute that talent better. Maybe take one of those assets and address other needs on the roster."

"I think right now it's best to say we like all of them, we want to see if we can make the most out of each of them," he added.