Will the Philadelphia 76ers keep both Joel Embiid & Nerlens Noel?

For the second straight year, the Philadelphia 76ers drafted the top big man prospect in the draft. Last year, they traded for the rights to former Kentucky Wildcats’ center Nerlens Noel, the sixth-overall pick and in June, they drafted former Kansas Jayhawks’ center Joel Embiid. That has led to speculation the 76ers could trade one of the two.

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Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders believes the 76ers will be able to play the two together.

"Hey Radu, thanks for joining again this week. I’m not sure what to think of the Sixers. I love the potential of pairing Embiid and Noel together in the frontcourt eventually, and also like what MCW brings to the table. Sooner or later, I think you have to stop planning for the future and live in the present if you’re taking that loyal fan base into consideration even remotely. I do think it is time to move on from Thaddeus Young, for the record. Productive player, but I believe we’ve seen what his ceiling may be, and we know how far that had gotten them."

Noel finally hit the court in summer league and was very impressive. In Noel’s lone year at Kentucky, he averaged 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.4 blocks, 2.1 steals and 1.6 assists per game. He shot 59.0% from the field and 52.9% from the free throw line. Embiid was ranked second among all prospects by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express (behind former Kansas teammate, forward Andrew Wiggins). Embiid averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 1.4 assists and 0.9 steals per game while shooting 62.6% from the field, 20.0% from beyond the arc and 68.5% from the free throw line.

Be sure to check FanSided’s official NBA page to keep up to date on the latest news and rumors from around the league all summer long.

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