Colangelo: Not necessary to trade Noel, won't make bad deal

The long-term fate of center Nerlens Noel is the main topic of discussion around the Philadelphia 76ers, with the 22-year-old recently saying he was far too talented to only play eight minutes like he did against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.

While head coach Brett Brown recently said Noel would be out of the rotation for the foreseeable future, new general manager Bryan Colangelo told reporters Monday that a permanent benching is not what's on the table.

"I don't things have to be so black and white, like you're in the rotation, you're out of the rotation," Colangelo said, according to Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times. "I think he's (Brown) actually quite frustrated. He's frustrated that it's perceived as it's cut and dry - Nerlens is not going to play. That's not the case. We all just acknowledge that we've got this talent, and it's stacked up, and it's healthy for the first time ...

"This is not a benching. It's a realization we have a lot of talent on this team."

Moving Noel would seem like a logical move, as he's clearly frustrated with not receiving adequate playing time, and with Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor holding down the frontcourt, he could be expendable. Even so, Colangelo isn't inclined to make a trade for the sake of it.

"I don't feel the need to make a trade. We've got a lot of talent," he said, adding, "I will not make a bad deal for this organization."

There's always a possibility that Colangelo will pull the trigger and ship off Noel - who he feels is getting nervous as he looks to make more money on a new contract - but not until he proves he can act professionally and remain healthy.

"He does a lot of things at an elite level defensively when healthy and engaged," Colangelo said.