NBA News 2016: Sixers Nerlens Noel Trade Rumors Heat Up After Benching; Clippers Blake Griffin Out 3-6 Weeks To Undergo Knee Surgery

By Christon Jervil Ligon - 22 Dec '16 20:45PM

A pair of talented power forwards makes the NBA headlines recently. One is dealing with a minor setback due to injury and will miss out on the season for a few weeks, while the other has seemingly hit a temporary snag on his career after a much publicized internal dispute with his team's front office.

Blake Griffin Is Set To Undergo Knee Surgery Los Angeles Clippers are currently in the thick of the action trying to position themselves onto a better spot in the Western Conference standings. They are currently at the fourth place and just a game behind the red-hot Houston Rockets. Their campaign, however, has suffered a huge blow after losing their high-scoring big man Blake Griffin to injury yet again.

According to ESPN, the Clippers will have to make do without one of their top scorers for some games as Blake Griffin is set to undergo an arthroscopic knee surgery. Recovery period is around three to six weeks.

Blake Griffin has been riddled with injuries as of late. He was also out of the lineup early this year after hurting himself in a tussle with one of the team's former staff. He'd be back in time for the playoffs last season only to suffer another injury during the latter part of their all-important first-round series against Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. The Clippers went on to lose the series.

Nerlens Noel's Career Is Currently In Limbo. After getting back from injury that sidelined him for months, Nerlens Noel is back in the Philadelphia 76ers roster, but not in the rotation. The 6'10 defensive-minded forward has been very vocal to the media about his displeasure regarding the team's handling of the clogged frontcourt situation. "They need to figure this sh*t out" were his exact words.

After playing just eight minutes in his second game for the season last Friday, Dec. 16, and once again relaying his frustration to the media, Nerlens Noel was a full scratch on the Sixers rotation in the team's Sunday game against the Brooklyn Nets.

Coach Brett Brown did not give him a single minute of playing time and opted for a Joel Embiid-Jahlil Okafor pairing for the most part of the game. Nerlens Noel is in all likelihood bound to be shifted elsewhere before the trade deadline, says a Fox Sports report. Now, it's all just a question of where he might be headed.

While there are some teams that might express interests and could really use Nerlens Noel's defensive prowess in the paint, 76ers President Bryan Colangelo just quelled the rumor buzz. As per NBA analyst Tom Moore, the team Exec said, "I don't feel the need to make a trade. We've got a lot of talent," Inquisitr wrote.

But, whether that was some ploy to let the interested teams know that it would take a significant offer to convince him otherwise, or he really doesn't mind losing Nerlens Noel to the coming free agency, remains to be seen for now. And, it's a waiting game for the Sixers young fellah. Stay tuned for more updates!