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NBA Trade Latest News & Update: New Orleans Pelicans Working On Jahlil Okafor Deal

By Vaughn Dweebs | Update Date: Feb 08, 2017 07:00 AM EST

The New Orleans Pelicans have emerged the latest players for Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers. With the Sixers expected to unload Okafor or Nerlens Noel, landing him could provide resident star player Anthony Davis some needed help.

Both the Pelicans and the Sixers are believed to be in the advanced stages, working out the components of the deal. Alex Ajinca and some future first-round picks are reportedly being offered, ESPN reported. Omer Asik was originally the player being offered though the Sixers were not interested and are instead on the prowl for a guard.

Rather than Ajinca or Asik, Jrue Holiday could be someone the Sixers would be interested in. The Sixers have long been looking for guards so that could be an option, Bleacher Report reported. If not, the best the Sixers can look forward to are future draft picks where they can young and promising talent. Worth noting though that in Okafor, maturity is in question – with reference to his off-court troubles.

The focus has shifted to Okafor with Nerlens Noel proving to be a better partner for Joel Embiid. Noel was widely believed to be the one to go before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 23 but all that has apparently changed. Okafor has drawn interest from several teams, the last of which was the Chicago Bulls. To date, nothing has transpired though all that changes in the coming weeks.

The Pelicans have been aggressively in search of a big man to compliment Davis. Names such as Greg Monroe (Milwaukee Bucks) and Brook Lopez (Brooklyn Nets) cropped up though nothing has prospered to this day. At 20-32, the Pelicans do have an outside chance of making the NBA postseason. If not, the potential move could be part of Alvin Gentry’s future preparations to get some load off the shoulders of Davis.

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