Yesterday, I wrote about how the DeMarcus Cousins trade has thrown trade values for a tizzy. Last night’s Lou Williams-for-Corey Brewer-and-a-first-round-pick deal may have started to put player values back in their rightful places. But teams still only have until 3 p.m. tomorrow to get deals done. According to David Aldridge, Jahlil Okafor will be gone then.

Speaking on NBATV yesterday, Aldridge said that the Sixers have “a lot of offers to sift through,” including ones from the Pacers and Kings, and said Okafor “will get moved by Thursday.”

Speaking with such conviction is probably just Aldridge’s way of putting a bow on all of the Okafor trade rumors. Where there’s smoke, there’s got to be fire, right?

Two things can be inferred from Aldridge’s report:

  1. Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype published a great inside look at how NBA trade talks go down. He wrote: “When a team is shopping a player, they are selective about the teams they’ll call. Not only is this done to prevent leaks, but a general manager pointed out that calling every team can devalue your asset and hurt your leverage since it’s clear that you’re moving the player.” Using that logic, Aldridge’s claim that an Okafor deal is certain to get done hurts whatever leverage the Sixers may have had.
  2. One GM told Kennedy the obvious– that some teams will leak interest in their own player to increase his value. Go figure.

Additionally, Woj reported on a recent podcast that if an Okafor deal doesn’t get done, Nerlens Noel could be moved:

If they can’t get a deal for Okafor done before the deadline, I’m told that it’s possible they’ll start – there are still teams still checking on Noel, re-engaging on him. What complicates it for Noel is that he’s a restricted free agent, and teams want to know ‘what is it going to cost to us to re-sign him’. And it’s going to be a big number.

Woj is typically deadly accurate, but he has a lot of qualifiers in his statement here. He said a Noel trade is only likely if the Sixers can’t get an Okafor deal done, even though Aldridge is claiming that it will. As Kennedy wrote, “if Woj reports something, he has it from strong sources and it’s rarely wrong,” and when Aldridge does it’s often a “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” situation. It sounds to me like an Okafor deal is certainly likely, but Woj is leaving the door open, still, for Noel to get moved, sub-optimal.

The NBA trade deadline is tomorrow at 3 p.m.