NBA Mock Trade: Could Third Team Get Involved in Potential Embiid Deal with Knicks or Heat?
While he isn’t known to be currently available on the trade market, the future of Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers appears to be as unclear as it ever has been. With James Harden publicly making it known he no longer wants to play in Philadelphia, rival teams are of the belief that the superstar center may be asking out sooner than later, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.
He would go on to report that the two teams that are keeping the closest pulse on Embiid’s status is the New York Knicks and Miami Heat, who are big market destinations. With that in mind, even if he did become available on the trade market, it would take an absolute haul of assets to acquire the 7-footer.
This is where things really get interesting. Goodwill would go on to report that a “teardown” could be better than another outright failure in the East for Sixers' President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey, who is apparently coveting future first-round draft picks in any Harden trade. If he were to ship both Harden and Embiid, he should expect a remarkable amount of future draft capital.
For most contending teams, quality future first-round picks aren’t in surplus. As such, the handful of teams that have been acquiring first rounders over the past few years could insert themselves as a potential third party in an Embiid deal. This would include teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz and others. They could flip some of these draft assets for young players or other attractive packages to get Philadelphia what it wants.
Again, there’s still been no indication that Embiid has requested or wants out of Philadelphia. However, an MVP-caliber player in the middle of his prime will have a steep asking price and a third team may need to get involved if contenders like the Heat and Knicks want to get a trade done.
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