I assume this newfound willingness of the 76ers coaching staff to give Nerlens Noel minutes is just the FO’s way of saying “hey other teams around the league just letting you know that this dude can still run and jump and stuff so if you want to give up a first round pick for him you know our number”.
It worked! I am totally convinced now that Noel isn’t damaged goods; would damaged goods be able to dunk? Before tonight, I wasn’t sure if he even had legs, now I have seen his legs and how they are able to move him up and down the court. Impressive! If I were a GM of a rival team, I would probably give the 76ers a call and see if I could swing a deal. Like, right now, I’m the GM of the Bucks, and I’m sitting lazily in my super-comfy chair in my lavishly decorated office, and I give a sideways glance to the phone, and I sigh a little bit, and I have the 76ers on speed-dial because they’re always good for some laughs, and I offer Greg Monroe for Nerlens Noel and a couple 1st rounders. Straight up. I could throw in Michael Beasley if they wanted. He’s a vet, isn’t that what they want?
I actually got so inspired by the preceding paragraph that I called the 76ers number they have on their website, but the dude on the phone only wanted to sell me tickets. I’m like “no, dude, can you forward me to Colangelo” and he was like “we have some sweet season ticket offerings”. Screw you, dude. I just wanted to get the wheels moving on a potential Noel trade.