The Philadelphia 76ers are trading former No. 3 overall pick Jahlil Okafor to the Brooklyn Nets in a three-player deal that also involves a draft pick.
The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to trade former No. 3 overall pick Jahlil Okafor to the Brooklyn Nets, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The Nets will send forward Trevor Booker to the 76ers for Okafor, guard Nik Stauskas and a 2019 second-round pick from the New York Knicks, league sources told Yahoo Sports. The Nets will release guard Sean Kilpatrick to create roster space for the trade, league sources said.
Okafor, 21, gets a fresh start to a once-promising career, which included averages of 17.5 points, seven rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 53 games as a rookie. Philadelphia declined his fourth-year rookie option before the start of the season, meaning Okafor will be a free agent at season’s end. The 6-foot-11 Okafor has been out of the 76ers’ rotation for parts of the past two seasons, playing in only two games this year.
For the Nets, the acquisition of Okafor gives the franchise a young prospect with upside at center. Brooklyn has started Timofey Mozgov and Tyler Zeller at times this season in the middle, but Okafor could develop with the team’s young core, which includes D’Angelo Russell and Caris LeVert.
Philadelphia had shopped Okafor to several teams this season, but found a partner with the Nets while also receiving a reliable frontcourt asset in Booker.
Okafor was the third pick in the 2015 NBA draft after winning an NCAA championship in his lone season at Duke.
