Joel Embiid wants Sixers to keep Jahlil Okafor through trade deadline

Jahlil Okafor will remain with the Philadelphia 76ers through the trade deadline if one fellow big man gets his way.

Sixers center Joel Embiid said earlier this week that he would prefer for the team to find a way to make it work with Okafor rather than to trade him.

“We got a lot of talent, and I feel we can use everybody if we want to get to where we want to,” Embiid said, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Obviously the playoffs are right there even if we don’t get the opportunity to make it this year. I think next year is our goal … We have a lot of talent. Anytime you have that type of talent, you got to find ways to make it work.”

Okafor has looked like a sitting duck in Philly for the last few weeks as the Sixers continue on their ongoing quest to clear up the traffic jam in their frontcourt. But he has found his way back into the rotation lately with Embiid missing time because of a knee injury. Still, the Sixers are posed with the enigma of what to do when Okafor, Embiid, and Nerlens Noel are all healthy, which may force their hand at the deadline, regardless of Embiid’s wishes.