The Philadelphia 76ers have decided not to take the option for another year of Jahlil Okafor’s contract. The Big Man will therefore become a Free Agent next summer.
Okafor was awarded 3rd place in 2015. The sixers would have had the option to keep him for 6.3 million dollars next season under his rookie contract. However, the team decided against it.
Okafor will thus be the third top-3 pick in history (besides Hasheem Thabeet and Anthony Bennett), whose option will not be taken by the team for the fourth year. It would make him an Unrestricted Free Agent this summer.
According to New York Times reporter Marc Stein, Okafor could now press for a buyout. He is said to be angry because he is convinced that the Sixers already had reasonable trade offers for him, but he has always decided against them.
Okafor had rookie 17.5 points and 7 rebounds for the Sixers, but in the team’s pecking order he fell far behind Joel Embiid and others. So far this season it has only been used once. Since the middle of last season, the Sixers are supposed to be open for a trade of the former Dukies.
On Tuesday, however, some options were also taken by the Sixers: Ben Simmons, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Dario Saric and Justin Anderson will remain in Philadelphia in 2018/19.