NBA trade rumors: Nerlens Noel to Blazers, other teams are wary

It’s been talked about ad nauseam and will continue to be discussed until the Sixers trade one of their three big men, but with potentially all three on the floor later this week we’ll soon find out if Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor can all coexist.

If they can’t or if the price is right, the Sixers will part with one of the three and the leading candidate is Noel.

Buzz recently has come from Portland that the Blazers need a rim protector and Noel fits the bill. As both Sports Illustrated and CSNPhilly muse, the Sixers could get a veteran guard from out west:

“If the Blazers send Allen Crabbe and a protected first-round pick to the Sixers, this can work,”SI’s AndrewSharp wrote. “Philly needs Crabbe’s shooting around Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, and they don’t have to worry about the cap space Crabbe would occupy. Crabbe would likely sign off an opportunity to play 35 minutes per game on the east coast. 76ers GM Bryan Colangelo could declare victory after he finally lands a first-round pick for one of his big men. The Blazers would get short-term help up front, and potentially a long-term answer who can grow with Lillard and McCollum over the next several years. Who says no?”

Interestingly, other sources say teams are unimpressed with Noel.

The big man played 10 minutes in a win last week but will be sidelined during the Sixersupcoming game against Toronto with a sore ankle. According to The Verticle’sAdrianWojnarowski, teams aren’t really too intersted.

“The research teams have done on him is not good,” Wojnarowski said on his most recent podcast. “They don’t get good reports back on their intel, how he’s carried himself there, of his habits. It’s not a great return. There are teams willing to do a deal for him and bring him in but they don’t want to give up much. And so at some point there, Philly has got to make a decision, ‘What’s the best we can get for him?’ I think at some point he probably moves, too.”

Perceived value is important and the Sixers will need all three of their centers to show the rest of the NBA something during the winter leading up to February’s trade deadline.