76ers trade unhappy Okafor to Nets

Dec 9, 2017 - 4:51 AM Jahlil Okafor no longer has to "Trust the Process."

The Philadelphia 76ers traded Okafor to the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday in exchange for forward Trevor Booker, the 76ers announced.

In addition, Philadelphia sent guard Nik Stauskas to Brooklyn as well as a 2019 second-round pick that originally belonged to the New York Knicks.

Okafor, 21, was drafted No. 3 overall by Philadelphia in the 2015 NBA Draft, but had fallen out of favor with the organization and has played sparingly this season.

"Trevor Booker has been a solid and competitive two-way contributor at every NBA stop. Trevor's abilities should complement our style of play and his experience should add to our bench depth with playoff contention in mind," 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo said in a statement. "Jahlil and Nik are both quality young men with talent that should keep them productive in this league a long time. We hope they find more opportunity in Brooklyn this season and thank them for their contributions over the past few years."

After averaging a career-high 17.5 points and seven rebounds over 53 games and being selected to the All-Rookie first team in the 2015-16 season, Okafor has appeared in just two games this season for the Sixers, averaging 5.0 points and 4.5 rebounds.

He certainly welcomed Thursday's trade based on comments he made to ESPN last month.

"I would like for them to just send me somewhere where I can get an opportunity," Okafor said. "I've done everything they've asked of me, and I would just like to get an opportunity to play with a trade or a buyout. I just hope something happens quickly. ... I know it's business, but in my eyes, I don't know if it's good business."

The 76ers previously declined their team option on Okafor for next season.

Meanwhile, the Nets are happy about adding two young players to their mix.

"We are excited about the prospects of both Jahlil and Nik, as well as adding another future asset which will aid us in our continued roster development," Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. "This trade provides us with a good opportunity to bring in two young players who were high picks in recent drafts and give them a chance to succeed in our system."

Booker, 30, is averaging a career-best 10.1 points per game and 6.6 rebounds through 18 games this season. The eighth-year pro has career averages of 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds.

Stauskus, 24, has averaged just 0.7 points and 0.2 rebounds in six games this year after averaging a career-best 9.5 and 2.8 last season, respectively.

The Nets also waived guard Sean Kilpatrick on Thursday. Kilpatrick was averaging 4.9 points in 16 games.