Philadelphia 76ers News: Third Incident For Jahlil Okafor
The latest Philadelphia 76ers news reveals that Jahlil Okafor was recently involved in a reckless driving incident, according to a report from ESPN.
For much of his rookie season, Okafor was making headlines for all the right reasons. With averages of 18 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game, the 6’11”, 275 pound center was in contention for the NBA Rookie of the Year award, competing with the likes of Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl Anthony Towns and the heavily popular New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis. It appeared that the Sixers finally drafted a player that was going to lead the franchise.
As of late, though, Okafor is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The Arkansas native made national headlines when TMZ released a video of the 19-year-old being involved in a street fight outside of a Boston bar. When that came to surface, it was discovered that Okafor was involved in another incident in October where someone drew a gun on him. The latest incident to come to light is that the former Duke University star was recently ticketed for driving 108 miles an hour over the Ben Franklin Bridge, where going over 40 miles an hour is considered reckless driving.
All these incidents have sparked trade rumors for Okafor to spring up. If Philadelphia feels that off court incidents are going to become a habit, then they might look to get some value for the third overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft while they can. Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie knows that his asking price will have to be lowered if more incidents were to take place. Considering that there are several teams that would be interested in acquiring Okafor, the time might be right to pull the trigger on a trade.
There’s some interesting potential landing spots for Okafor. The Miami Heat are not going to be able to afford Hassan Whiteside, who has blossomed into one of the best centers in the NBA, so they could be looking for a replacement. Okafor might be appealing to Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, who is slowly rebuilding the roster with talented young players. The struggling New Orleans Pelicans would love to add a low post scoring presence to complement the all around game of franchise player Anthony Davis.
The Sixers organization was already ridiculed for their record this season. Sitting at 0-17 will make you the butt of jokes in the NBA. Now, there are going to be new jokes about Philadelphia not being able to keep their players out of trouble. In comparison, team owners, team presidents, general managers and head coaches would much prefer to have people focus on the bad stuff happening on the court as opposed to having the organization be questioned by outsiders.
Brett Brown is a tremendous head coach and one of the brightest minds in the NBA. Many wonder just how worse things would be in Philadelphia if they did not make the brilliant decision to hire the former San Antonio Spurs assistant coach. He can only do so much on his own, however. The 76ers management team needs to show Brown and the rest of the world that they are competent enough to run a professional sports franchise properly.
Will Jahlil Okafor turn out to be another black eye for the Philadelphia 76ers?
[Featured Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images]
