‘Tis the season for Jahlil Okafor Stories.
​
Big Jah just can’t seem to stay out of trouble off the court of late. After apparently having a gun pointed at him during an altercation at a Philadelphia night club in October and then punching a man outside a Boston night club on Thanksgiving eve (video below), reports are now surfacing from The Philadelphia Inquirer that Okafor was pulled over a few weeks back for going 108 mph on the Ben Franklin Bridge.

According to multiple reports, former Sixers center Moses Malone passed away Sunday at the age of 60.

A three-time NBA MVP and 12-time All-Star, Malone was a key cog in the Sixers' 1982-1983 NBA Championship, being named Finals MVP for his performance. Malone averaged 20.6 points and 12.2 rebounds per game during his career and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001.

The space in between summer leagues and preseason is a dead time. Imagine the folk singer in Frank's bar during the second season of True Detective playing a slow brooding song to no one other than that one passed out, possibly dead, guy at the bar (is that Stan??? STAN!!!). 

If you haven't seen the second season of True Detective (I envy you), just imagine tumbleweed, or quietly waiting, staring at the corner of the room where two walls meet while on timeout as a kid.  A long stretch where time mostly sits still and it's almost always fairly dull. It's no man's land is what I'm getting at.

And a lot of nothing has happened since the Sixers signed Richaun Holmes, a whoooole lot of nothing. I am now going to comment on some aspects of the nothingness.

The Sixers have officially confirmed that Joel Embiid will miss his second straight season - further delaying his NBA debut - and will have surgery on his right foot in the next seven to 10 days.

Following a report from Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer on Saturday afternoon, the Sixers confirmed the news that the 21-year-old Embiid would indeed undergo surgery on his right foot yet again, in an announcement Saturday night.

On Friday, the Sixers’ trade with the Kings, in which Sam Hinkie absolutely fleeced Vlade Divac, became official. The Sixers acquired Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry, as well as a 2018 protected first-round pick and the option to swap 2016 and 2017 first-round picks in exchange for Arturas Gudaitis and Luka Mitrovic.

In his 3rd draft as the Sixers' GM, Sam Hinkie again came out of the night with a highly rated center. First in a draft say trade to land Nerlens Noel on 2013, then at one time top rated Joel Embiid fell to Philly's 3rd overall pick with an ankle injury in 2014, and now in 2015 with Jahlil Okafor landing in Hinkie's lap. 

The consensus top rated Karl Anthony Towns was unsurprisingly taken by Minnesota at #1 but the Laker shook thing up by taking D'Angelo Russell with the second pick when many thought Okafor was a lock for #2. Although Hinkie seemingly hoped to take scoring guard at #3, when he was off the table it was a no-brainer to select Okafor, once the top-rated prospect coming into his Freshmen season at Duke. 

Here we are, on the day of Hinkie's third NBA Draft with the Sixers.  He's nabbed Nerlens Noel, Michael Carter-Williams,  Joel Embiid, and Dario Saric in the lottery during his tenure.  Noel is already one of the better post defenders in the NBA after just one full season and looks like he can bloom into a solid all-around player.  MCW was traded to the Bucks once Hinkie realized he couldn't shoot, a pretty important skill for a guard to have.  Embiid, after sitting out all of last season with a foot injury, will most likely sit this upcoming season as well.  Saric is still overseas, but will likely come over next season.