The Philadelphia 76ers have a tricky Joel Embiid issue on their hands. Embiid is a solid player when healthy, but he’s rarely healthy, and even when he is, his performances are inconsistent. He’ll go from an MVP-level game one night to a complete dud the next. But with his injury history, the Sixers won’t be able to trade him – unless they get lucky.
There are a few instances in which the Sixers could theoretically find a viable trade for Embiid. Three instances, to be exact. One, a team is desperate. Two, a team is dumb. Or three, a team has bad contracts they want to get off of anyway. If the 76ers can somehow, someway find one of those situations, it may be their only hope of trading Embiid.
If not, he’s going to be in Philadelphia for the rest of his career, for better or for worse.
76ers have few (if any) Joel Embiid trade options
Embiid is still an elite big man when he can stay on the court. Just look at what he did to the Boston Celtics in the first round of this year’s playoffs. Unfortunately, that version of him was short-lived.
By the second round, Embiid’s body caught up to him again. He wasn’t the same player he looked like against the Celtics, and the New York Knicks dispatched the Sixers in a four-game sweep.
But since Embiid is making an insane amount of money, it seems highly unlikely that the Sixers would even be able to field offers for him this summer. Unless one of the three instances pops up.
With the first one, it would have to be a team with almost no hope. A team that desperately wants to shake things up by any means necessary and has the contracts to do so.
How badly do the Phoenix Suns want to help Devin Booker? Could they trade a bunch of salary for Embiid in hopes of it coming together by the postseason? What about the LA Clippers? Does Steve Ballmer want to do star-hunting again? Both probably nos, but you get the point.
What about the second option? A team that makes bad moves? The Sacramento Kings, perhaps? Or what about the Chicago Bulls’ new front office?
Lastly, a team with bad contracts. That one is harder to find.
Do the Miami Heat have enough bad contracts to match Embiid’s deal? It depends on what they see as a bad contract. What about the Golden State Warriors? Again, both probable nos.
It’s hard to find a deal for Embiid, but those are the only parameters that even make a little bit of sense.
Add us as a preferred source on Google