Philadelphia 76ers shut down Jahlil Okafor for the season

After missing the past four games, the Philadelphia 76ers have decided to shut down Jahlil Okafor the remainder of the season.

In reality, the season was over before it started for the Philadelphia 76ers. There was no timetable on when and if Ben Simmons would play this season, while Joel Embiid was forced to play under a minutes restriction. Come to find out, Simmons won’t play this season at all.

Now, the former third overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft will miss the remainder of the season. Jahlil Okafor has endured pain and soreness in his knee since having surgery to repair a torn meniscus last year.

The Sixers have also shut down Robert Covington for the year.

"“At this stage of the year it seems like it’s the right thing to do,” head coach Brett Brown said. “I know they’re very disappointed about not being here with the team and being able to see this through, but it’s borderline zero doubt that this is the right thing to do.”"

Okafor was averaging 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

"“He had signs of fantastic play,” Brown said. “He had signs of disappointment. I think to make any level of judgment is kind of grossly unfair because of the erratic nature of his health. There were times he was good to go and I chose not to play him when we had our abundance of centers. We look at some of those games he was able to get his touches, he scores. He scores in his sleep.”"

We’re less than three months away from the NBA Draft and there’s a possibility the Sixers could have two lottery picks. They’ll have one for sure, but if the Los Angeles Lakers fall out of the top three, they will take that pick as well.

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With Simmons and Embiid back next year, the Sixers could finally make some noise.