Jahlil Okafor trade rumors center around his hometown Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls have reached out to the Philadelphia 76ers regarding the trade availability of reserve big man Jahlil Okafor, CSN Chicago’s Vincent Goodwell reported on Thursday.

Okafor, a Chicago high-school star who was selected third overall out of Duke in the 2015 NBA Draft, averaged 17.5 points per game his rookie season but was relegated to a bench role when Joel Embiid, this season’s runaway Rookie of the Year candidate, returned from injury. In reduced minutes this season, the Chicago native has averaged 11.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and one block.

With the Feb. 23 NBA trade deadline just weeks away, the Bulls have been active on the trade front, per CSN Chicago. They tested the market for their All-Star forward Jimmy Butler and are looking to improve their .500 team that sits seventh in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls (25-25) currently deploy Robin Lopez and Cristiano Felicio as their centers, who average a combined 14.2 points per game. There is more interest on Chicago’s side than Philadelphia’s, per CSN Chicago, and it’s unclear what combination of players and assets the Bulls can offer to pry Okafor from the team that drafted him.

Nerlens Noel missed the first 23 games of the season recovering from a minor knee surgery. The Sixers were 5-18 before his return and are 11-11 in games he’s appeared in this season.

Embiid has publicly campaigned for coaches to give Noel more minutes, and Brett Brown has obliged. That leaves Okafor as the odd man out in Philly’s front court logjam, and he has been on the bench for key stretches while Embiid plays the brunt of the meaningful time under his minutes restriction.

Chicago hasn’t been enamored with its low post production out of Lopez and Felicio, per CSN Chicago, and Okafor’s dexterity on the block fits a need for the Bulls.

Okafor is on a rookie scale contract worth $5 million in the 2017-18 season. The Bulls would likely need to bring in a third team to find the contracts and requisite level of talent to match the big man’s value.

Chicago could offer Nikola Mirotic or Doug McDermott, but both have regressed this season and are considerably older than the 21-year-old Okafor. The Bulls have also yet to decide on the direction of the franchise, per CSN Chicago, and it is unclear if they would be willing to move a first-round pick — something Philadelphia would inevitably require to part ways with their talented center.

Philadelphia still has 20 days to find another trade suitor willing to cough up more assets for their low post scorer and could revisit the Bulls should their search come up empty.

The first-round pick is the deal sealer for the Sixers here. Chicago doesn’t have many attractive young players not named Jimmy Butler and, in all likelihood, would need a third party to help facilitate the trade. That said, there’s about a three in 10 chance a deal to bring Okafor home gets done, but those odds will increase as the trade deadline draws near.