5 NBA players who are playing out of position
By John Buhler
The NBA has a bunch of skilled players entering the 2016-17 NBA season. Here are five players that could benefit from a slight position switch.
The small ball era of the NBA has ushered a renaissance of rampant three-pointing shooting and essentially position-less basketball. Traditional power forwards and even some centers are getting in on the three-point craze. Near seven-footers are asked to bring the ball up the court. What is going on?
In short, basketball is becoming less defined by traditional position designations, which frees up the game on both ends of the floor and in transition. All that aside, there are a few players in the game today that could use a slight position switch. Here are five players that are playing out of position in 2016-17.
5. Nerlens Noel
Though Ben Simmons will miss a lot of his rookie season with a fractured foot, the 2016-17 Philadelphia 76ers could be a fun team to watch. They are well coached by Brett Brown and offer a ton of interesting frontcourt players — perhaps too many.
With Dario Saric and Joel Embiid making their NBA debuts, Philadelphia will have a serious logjam in the frontcourt. Saric and Embiid will join center Jahlil Okafor and power forward Nerlens Noel.
It stands to reason that either Noel or Okafor will be traded at some point this season. While we don’t who it will be, one thing is certain: Noel needs to get back to playing center. He’s playing out of position at power forward.
While he does give the 76ers great length and rim protection defensively, Noel doesn’t shoot from distance. Okafor is the more refined offensive player, but Noel seems more willful and could work as a center in the small-ball era.
Spacing is going to be an issue with the76ers. Even if Simmons was going to play point forward, he’s still 6’10” and could aid on the glass and defensively when he finally gets on the court. If a team needs rebounding and rim protection at the 5, it should give the 76ers a call for Noel.
Philadelphia won’t part with him for next to nothing, but the poor guy needs to play center on a halfway decent team.