Joel Embiid Is The Anti-Andrew Bynum

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Dec 15, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Injured Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (left) talks with general manager and president Sam Hinkie (right) before a game against the Boston Celtics at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Reverse Psychology

The Sixers needed Bynum, but were completely unprepared when he arrived too injured to play for the team. The Sixers needed Joel Embiid, and were completely prepared when he arrived too injured to play. The 2012 team had traded for power forward Arnette Moultrie. The 2014 team had traded for Dario Saric.

At the end of the trades, the 2012 Philadelphia 76ers were out of options. At the end of the trades, the 2014 Philadelphia 76ers were full of options.

Embiid was injured yes. But rather than encourage his rush to return to a basketball court, the Philadelphia 76ers rushed to his aid, sought medical expertise, placed the career of Embiid first, and shelved him for two seasons to ensure that the player was healed.

And what of Moultrie’s counterpart, power forward Dario Saric? The team did not rush him to the NBA either. While he may have contributed to a few wins on an interim, the true value was bringing him into the NBA in synch with center Joel Embiid.

While the reach up for Bynum and Moultrie exhausted the 76ers’ options in the past, the willingness of the 2014 76ers to allow both Embiid and Saric fall to them not only landed two players the team coveted, but the team’s overall situation in terms of access to new talent with which to build even further is even more greatly strengthened.

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