Former No. 3 overall pick Jahlil Okafor has been a lost man in the Philadelphia 76ers’ rotation this season. Through seven games, the Duke product has seen the court just once.
It has to be a frustrating situation, even as Okafor watches from the bench with his team improving leaps and bounds by the day.
Now, in talking about his role in Philadelphia and any future with the Sixers, Okafor seems pretty darn frustrated.
“I honestly didn’t want them to pick up my option, Okafor said, via Rich Hoffman of The Athletic. “I’ve been going through a lot since I’ve been here, so the fact that I know that at the end of the season that I’ll at least have an opportunity to play elsewhere, that’s great.”
Philadelphia declined the final year on Okafor’s rookie contract, making him a free agent at the end of the season. Long seen as trade bait, that likely lowers and value the team receives in any potential deal moving forward.
“This is my life, this is my career, and I’m not getting an opportunity here, which is fine,” Okafor continued. “The team looks great and I’m not a part of that.”
This tells us a story of a very disgruntled player on a team full of youngsters. How long Philadelphia continues to play this game with Okafor remains to be seen. But it’s clear he wants out of dodge.