The Philadelphia 76ers have had
yet another crazy offseason, with James Harden essentially pulling
a Ben Simmons as he has been away from the team for the past week.
While this has been annoying for Sixers fans, something even worse
could happen as a result.
Joel Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP,
has been mentioned in the rumor mill throughout the offseason.
While the 76ers obviously aren’t looking to move Embiid right now,
rival teams are closely monitoring Embiid and whether he’ll
eventually want out of Philadelphia.
One team that’s keeping an eye
on Embiid is the New York Knicks, who are preparing an offer for
the Sixers’ big man in the event that he becomes
available.
Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer
reports that the Knicks are willing
to give up “three key players” and multiple first-round picks for
the reigning MVP.
Among the players available for
trade are Julius Randle, R.J. Barrett, Mitchell Robinson and Evan
Fournier. Despite the fact that this offer includes a former
All-Star and rising star, it’s very unlikely that the Sixers would
accept any package that doesn’t include Jalen Brunson. Other teams
would likely be able to beat this offer from the Knicks.
However, if the offer included
Brunson, perhaps a deal could make sense. The new starting five in
Philly would be Brunson, Tyrese Maxey, Barrett, Tobias Harris and
Robinson. But with the Sixers already losing Harden in the near
future, the Sixers likely won’t give up Embiid and completely
dismantle their core in one year.
If the Sixers look to move
anyone other than Harden, it’s more likely going to be Harris, who
is in the final year of his contract and earning $39,270,150 this
season.
With that said, given Harden’s
inevitable exit and everything going on in Philly, it wouldn’t be
surprising to see Embiid request a trade by next season. He hasn’t
seen any real postseason success with the Sixers and could
eventually get tired of their inability to make it past the second
round.
As of now though, there’s no
real concern about the Sixers losing Embiid.
