NBA Trade Grades: Mavericks To Add Nerlens Noel From 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers

After snagging a pair of second round picks and securing more playing time for Dario Saric with the Ilyasova trade on Wednesday, Thursday morning’s deal was a disappointing follow-up for Bryan Colangelo’s trade deadline.

The Sixers were actively shopping Jahlil Okafor to teams like the New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers, but were either unable to dump him on anyone, or unwilling to do so for such a low return in the end. This led to the Nerlens Noel deal, with the Sixers trading the more valuable of their two expendable big men.

Joel Embiid is the franchise star, that much is clear. But by not playing Embiid and Noel together more this season, the Sixers may have made a grave mistake in trading the wrong backup — even if Noel’s value was low because of his injury-proneness, dwindling production and less than savory attitude about his situation.

Though Noel started the season injured and watched his numbers drop to 8.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 19.4 minutes per game, he was starting to find his rhythm again in recent weeks. He still has Defensive Player of the Year potential at age 22 and just averaged 11.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last season.

Instead of keeping Noel, the Sixers moved him for an aging center they’ll be trying to flip in another trade before Thursday’s deadline, a young wing and a first round pick that is highly unlikely to convey this year.

For Philly to get that pick in 2017, the Mavs would have to climb past the New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets into a playoff spot…and keep climbing, because they’d need the 11th best record in the NBA (A.K.A. the 19th overall pick) for the Sixers to get it.

According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the pick will convert into two second round selections –one in 2017 and one in 2018.

So essentially, the Sixers traded Noel — the wrong center candidate to trade — for Justin Anderson and two second-rounders.

Anderson is only 23 years old and could be a great flier pickup on a team that can afford him plenty of minutes. He’s already a terrific defender and addresses a position of need moving forward with the Sixers’ rebuild.

However, Anderson doesn’t have the same upside as someone like Noel, and even with Noel’s restricted free agency presenting an issue, Anderson’s lack of a jumper will determine just how successful his NBA career is.

For now, Noel is the better player AND he’s younger. Justin Anderson is shooting just 40.2 percent from the floor and 30.3 percent from three-point range.

This deal might look better if the Sixers can flip Bogut’s expiring contract to a contender for the right price, but if they’re unable to do so in the next few hours, the big Aussie will simply become a buyout candidate.

With Embiid, Okafor, Splitter and Richaun Holmes all on the roster, he likely won’t ever play a game for Philadelphia.

This grade may need revising depending on what the Sixers get out of a Bogut trade and what the other protections on the first round pick are once it fails to convey in 2017, but for now, Philly moved an expendable center for an acceptable return to clear their logjam. Unfortunately, they dealt the wrong one.

Grade: C-