There’s an argument to be made for both sides in the alleged Jahlil Okafor non-trade with the Celtics.

Side 1: The pick the Sixers would’ve received in return will likely be top 5, but their chances of securing the number 1 overall pick – which is what really matters this year – would’ve barely increased. Ergo, the best player you get with the pick probably isn’t as good as Okafor. The difference, of course, is that he could be a guard, which the Sixers need. But then again, the Sixers – pre-Colangelo, at least – seem to prefer “best available” over positional need, so there’s no guarantee they wouldn’t have, maddeningly, drafted another forward with it.

Side 2: Okafor and Nerlens Noel don’t play well together. Add in Joel Embiid – who is supposedly the best of the bunch, though I think Sixers fans rely a bit too much on his upside and not the real-world fact that he is a walking medical concern [Derek Bodner, whom I like, played this role on the 97.5 morning show today] – and you’re left with too many big men. Okafor is the most polished, but, according to some, may have the lowest ceiling – I’m not sure I buy that – and therefore is the most tradable asset. Still, I’d wait for something more than another non-number one draft pick to come along… which it seems the Sixers did.

Let’s hit it!

 

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The roundup:

Shayne Gostisbehere continues to be completely filthy.

 

Flyers fans chanting “asshole” at a Devils fan in Toronto is pleasing.

 

Michael Del Zotto is done for the season.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the responses to my Tweet calling St. Joe’s irrelevant, and even more so now that I awoke today to learn that St. Joe’s lost to Davidson on Saturday. So, about the top 25…

Voila_Capture 2016-02-22_08-49-52_AM Voila_Capture 2016-02-22_08-50-11_AM

 

Villanova beat Butler on Saturday. They’ll play Xavier, who’s ranked eighth, in one of the biggest college basketball games of the season on Wednesday, on FS1. Gus Johnson will call it. This is what it’s like to be a powerhouse.

 

I don’t like The Simpsons, but their take on the 2016 election is quite good.

 

The Washington Post deep dives on the unraveling of Jeb Bush’s campaign. I’m baffled that more people aren’t stating the obvious: the country was never going to elect another Bush. Jeb may have been more qualified than his brother, but just because the establishment and big money wants you there doesn’t mean you’re the odds-on favorite. The disconnect between said establishment and the public has never been greater, and Bush would’ve had a hard time even without his guffaws and creepy reliance on his mother, brother, and family name, for which he misunderestimates adoration. The fact that he has the presence of a train conductor addressing passengers about a signal failure delay just hastened his demise.

 

Speaking of weird worship of a household name, Penn State is working on two Joe Paterno statues. From WGAL:

Since the artists have not been able to locate the original Joe Paterno statue, (artists Yesid) Gomez and Wilfer Buitrago are already in the process of creating a new statue. The project is already underway at a secret location in Ephrata, the same town the original statue was created.

Two copies of the Paterno statue will be made. One will be donated to the Paterno family, the second will go to the Beaver Stadium. That replica will travel from different locations and museums to pay homage to the late coach.

Secret location in Ephrata. Fucking. Weird.

 

NJ.com’s Joe Giglio, citing a radio interview with Keith Law, jumps through hoops to imagine how the Phillies could trade for Mike Trout in a few years. Here’s what Law said:

“When I ranked all the farm systems, I had the Angels 30th—which surprised nobody—and it’s the worst farm system I’ve seen since I started doing this,” Law said. “The system is totally barren. There’s no one in my top 100 (prospects). So, they could wind up in a situation if they don’t win now where they have to look at trading Mike Trout. Meaning, there’s going to be a point where they reboot the whole system and that would probably start with trading Mike Trout—because you’re not keeping Mike Trout if you’re a last place team. He’s not going to want to stay when his current contract ends if they’re not contenders, and he’d be one of the most valuable players ever traded.”

And Giglio didn’t even mention Matt Klentak’s ties to the Angels. Not the craziest thing in the world, even if this is a classic NJ.com piece.

 

Andy MacPhail is upbeat about the future.

 

Arsenal is using DNA testing to help prevent injuries. Somewhere, Chip Kelly approves.

 

Bob Brookover did a piece on Amaro and his new gig as first base coach and batting practice pitcher:

Amaro, by his calculations, spent 35 of his 51 years going to Clearwater with the Phillies in some capacity: son of a coach, bat boy, player, assistant GM and GM. This was the first time in 20 years he reported to a destination other than Clearwater.

It’s also the first time since 1998 he has been in a uniform and he’s taking his job as first-base coach and outfield instructor very seriously. He dropped 15 pounds in the offseason and threw batting practice and hit fungos at a friend’s baseball facility in Bucks County to get ready. Although he threw righthanded during his playing career, he is pitching batting practice lefthanded.

“I threw three or four times at home and my right arm was bothering me, so I’ve been giving it a rest,” he said. “I was originally a lefthanded thrower as a kid. I eat lefthanded. Right now I’ll throw lefthanded, but if my arm gets well I’ll throw either way.”

Leave it to Amaro to mismanage his own injury.

 

Don Mattingly adopts a no-facial hair policy for the Marlins, and that makes me want to punch Don Mattingly in the face even more.

 

The Gronk party ship– I want to go to there. Like, really badly.

 

Local composer GR Stone sums up Philly sports in On Broad Street:

 

Good take on Hinkie:

I’d argue it’s even more like my oft-relied on reference– Peter’s boat-mystery box conundrum. A boat’s a boat, but the mystery box could be anything. It could even be JAHLIL OKAFOR!

 

Absolutely horrible news of former Miss New Jersey, news anchor and girlfriend of NBC 10’s Keith Jones Cara McCollum passing away this morning as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash last week. Keith Jones posted on his Facebook page, and I can’t even bring myself to read it. Sending our best wishes to Keith and the McCollum family.

 

Nick Foles is even worse than you thought.

 

Liev Schreiber is back, narrating HBO’s The March to Madness about Gonzaga. Going to watch the hell out of this:

https://youtu.be/eOdideM5Hxo

 

“Suck it up, LeBron.”

 

Jahlil Okafor scored a pro (and college) career high 31 points last night, but the Sixers lost because it felt like Dirk Nowitzki scored all 29,000+ of his career points on jumpers in the game.

 

Delonte West seems like he’s in rough shape.

 

A minor league baseball team in Wisconsin is trying to kill you with burgers, specifically one that is four patties with shitty DiGiorno’s pizza substituted for buns.

 

Pablo Sandoval will probably hit .280 with an .800 OPS looking like this:

 

“Oh, it’s okay. I’ll just chill over here.”

 

The U.S. is the host nation for the Copa America Centenario, so they may have expected a slightly easy group draw. That didn’t happen.

 

Kobe dislocates finger. Kobe gets finger popped back in. Fan is grossed out.

 

My (Jim’s) new favorite twitter account might just be Phillies on Facebook, which tweets only verbatim comments from the Phillies’ facebook page, like these gems:

https://twitter.com/philliesonfb/status/701635387043799040

https://twitter.com/philliesonfb/status/700558516302381057

https://twitter.com/philliesonfb/status/699464564006633472

 

Podcast:

No show because of slow week last week. New one coming next day or two:

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