The Sixers held on to Nerlens Noel for too long and dealt him for a fraction of his worth

The Philadelphia 76ers waited too long and lost their trade leverage, dealing Nerlens Noel to the Dallas Mavericks for an underwhelming package that is likely to amount to Justin Anderson and a pair of second-round picks. They also acquired Andrew Bogut, but his contract is expected to be bought out.

If Philly didn’t move Noel before Thursday’s deadline, they risked losing him for nothing in restricted free agency this summer. That blow may have been saved if they were able to move Jahlil Okafor instead, but the Sixers weren’t offered the right package to ship him off.

The team with some of the biggest assets on the trade block lost its bargaining chips as it saw DeMarcus Cousins, Mason Plumlee, Jusuf Nurkic and other centers find new homes quickly. The Sixers came away as trade deadline losers for waiting too long to make a deal.

Now they’re stuck with Okafor, who undeniably does not fit next to Joel Embiid. The two have been a net negative playing together, allowing four more points per 100 possessions than their opponent. That’s the only two-man combination involving Embiid and another big to register a negative net rating.

Philly had chances to solve its center logjam much sooner. Liberty Ballers’ Kyle Neubeck reports that president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo turned down an offer from Boston over the summer that would have sent the Celtics’ 2018 or 2019 first-round pick to Philly with some protections. It’s hard to imagine that a market that yielded a pair of second-round picks for Ersan Ilyasova couldn’t have returned more for Noel earlier in the season.

Instead, the Sixers fielded a minimal return. And now they’ll again have to deal with Okafor trade chatter over the summer as the team attempts to make amends with a player they told to sit out for a two-game road trip two weeks ago when he was supposed to be traded.

How did the Sixers let this happen?

The focus in Philly was on shipping Okafor, but the market on an offensive-minded center with staggering defensive issues was slim. Even more than that, the Sixers became the odd man out after a number of teams, including the Pelicans, Nuggets and Trail Blazers, were able to find big men long before the deadline. Okafor, who was a tough sell before, became nearly impossible to trade for anything of value.

But the Sixers had to make some move to get rid of their very apparent frontcourt logjam, and dealing Noel was their second option.

Under Colangelo, Philadelphia was never planning to keep Noel long term, and Dallas was able to exploit them for it. For some reason, Noel was never given a chance to play with Embiid to see if the pairing worked. They played eight minutes together all season, a staggeringly low number.

But the team couldn’t afford to lose Noel for nothing, assuming a team with cap space was set to offer the soon-to-be restricted free agent more than what the Sixers wanted to pay this summer. So Mark Cuban was able to swoop in and land him for a fraction of what he’s worth.

Sam Hinkie wouldn’t have let this happen

A mastermind at dealing players for future assets, Hinkie wouldn’t have let a lottery pick with promise like Noel go for a package featuring Justin Anderson. Hinkie would’ve foreseen Noel’s restricted free agency dilemma and made a decision long ago.

He was actually never going to trade Noel at all.

”I did have to adjust a little bit,” said Noel on Vertical podcast last month. “He [Hinkie] said he’d never trade me. It’s a business regardless, but a guy who really values you to a high standard. And then overnight, your life changes and you’re on the block and really uncertain about things and it changes your mindset on how you’re gonna approach things.”

Noel probably never gained full trust in his team’s new general manager, who likely had something to do with the decision to bench the 22-year-old as a way to handle the crowded roster in December.

Colangelo struck out looking, and he shipped Noel for nothing of guaranteed value. The 76ers still have a stocked cupboard, but this wasn’t a good omen for the future.