10 NBA players in need of a trade in 2017-18

2. Jahlil Okafor

Speaking of blatantly obvious trade candidates, Jahlil Okafor is the one part of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ tantalizing young nucleus that doesn’t quite fit in, especially with the emergence of Joel Embiid. At this point, it feels like the Sixers would only keep him if A) They couldn’t find anyone who wants him or B) They want him as insurance for the injury-prone Embiid.

With that being said, the 76ers already plopped the former third overall pick on the trade block last year. His own injury problems didn’t help his market value, nor did his numbers shriveling up from 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in 30 minutes per game as a rookie to 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per game in his sophomore year.

Okafor has missed 29 and 32 games in his first two years in the league, but in a frontcourt that includes Embiid, Richaun Holmes, Amir Johnson, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric, there isn’t much opportunity to be found, especially if Brett Brown opts to go small for stretches.

For all his defensive flaws, Okafor still has plenty of upside. He’s only 21 years old, has a tremendous back-to-the-basket game and could eventually embrace a sixth man role a la Greg Monroe — especially in a league that’s going small and expects its bigs to spread the floor.

Finding a proper landing spot for Okafor may prove to be difficult, but for the right price, it’d be best for both parties to move on from a much-maligned situation featuring a youngster who’s been hammered for all his shortcomings and rarely praised for what he might actually bring to the NBA level.