Centers of Attention
It was hinted at on the previous slide, but both teams are deep at center.
Chicago currently has both Lopez and Felicio at center. They also play Taj Gibson at center from time to time, for now. Gibson is one of the most likely pieces to be traded by the deadline, among everyone on this roster.
But back to the two centers. The Bulls don’t need a third. If they did acquire Okafor, the assumption should be that they either plan to trade Lopez or allow Felicio to leave in restricted free agency this summer. Or, they trade some combination of those players to acquire the Sixers big man.
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Felicio is listed as a center, and that’s accurate. He’s a strong, athletic, hard-working, rim-running, screen-setting, oop-slamming, defensively competent center. He really should be a priority for Chicago to keep this summer.
Philadelphia has a similar issue. There isn’t a need to add yet another center. Unless they plan to trade Nerlens Noel in addition to Okafor. That’s a very real possibility, though I’d bet all my money that they don’t do it before this season is over. Injuries can’t be predicted, but hedging against another issue with Embiid is only smart.
A trade that works for Philly is Okafor for Felicio and Nikola Mirotic. They get Mirotic as a rental to make a decision on him heading into his summer of restricted free agency, and they get the same for Felicio. It’s not much of a deal, but the Sixers are also asking for, and getting, better offers than they should for Okafor.
There just isn’t a strong trade between like-positioned players here and this is the strongest argument of all against an Okafor to the Bulls trade.