Report: Celtics still interested in Sixers’ Jahlil Okafor

 

 

 By Josh Liddick, Sports Talk Philly Staff

After a week of dormancy, the  trade rumors seem to have sprouted up a little just three days before the NBA's Trade Deadline on Thursday.

Last year in June, there were a lot of trade talks regarding the Boston Celtics and trading Jahlil Okafor there on draft night. Obviously, the talks went through, and Okafor stayed a member of the Sixers, as they settled for just the first overall pick of the draft, where they took Ben Simmons.

 

According to Marc Stein from ESPN on Mike & Mike this morning, the Celtics are interested in Philadelphia's big-man.

"I’ve heard that Boston has still give that some consideration. Chicago is another team that’s said to have shown some Okafor interest. You can rest assured Philly’s gonna spend the next three-plus days trying to find a trade home for Jahlil Okafor."

It would be interesting to see if this trade went through, but the assets the Celtics could offer the Sixers would be very limited. Guard wise, the only players that Boston could potentially offer up is Terry Rozier and James Young, but the value seems too low for Philly to pull the trigger and give up Okafor.

The only other assets the Celtics have to offer is their first round pick(from Brooklyn) in 2017, which is completely off the table, given the likelihood of the pick being the No. 1 selection. The Celtics also own three other second-round picks in 2017, but it will take a lot for the Sixers to give up Okafor for that.

Honestly, the likelihood of Boston and Philadelphia agreeing on a deal to send Jahlil Okafor to the Celtics seems pretty slim-to-none. However, it will be interesting to see what the Celtics offer given their reported interest.

In Sports Talk Philly's Jesse Larch's article on Saturday, it was rumored that the Dallas Mavericks had an interest in Okafor.

According to Sean Devenney of Sporting News on Monday afternoon, talks with the Mavericks could start back up again before Thursday's deadline.

So with the Trail Blazers, Nuggets, and Pelicans all out of the race for Okafor, it seems like the three suitors for the center are looking like the Bulls, Celtics, and Mavericks at this moment.

h/t LibertyBallers

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