To say that the 2025 trade deadline was eventful would be a gigantic understatement. The Philadelphia 76ers pulled the trigger on three, separate trades of their own, yet they would not be considered to have brought the fireworks. That distinction would belong to the handful of teams that made a frenzy with dealing superstars right before the anticipated annual cut-off.
From Luka Doncic to De’Aaron Fox to Jimmy Butler, there has not been any shortage of nuclear trades that had transpired just this week. For their part, the 76ers bid adieu to three of their role players in Caleb Martin, KJ Martin, and Reggie Jackson, getting two players in return alongside some draft compensation.
Philly, however, had a different thing in mind when they pushed the button on these moves. The front office, unlike most of their contemporaries, went all-in on their thrifty measures, basically dumping salaries for reasons still vague up this point.
The 76ers could be headed to a potential rift with Joel Embiid
Having said that, while Daryl Morey has been the undisputed winner on some of these trades, the 76ers were not exactly well-received when it comes to the way they operated before the deadline. After all, with Philly still incentivized to chase a playoff spot, they instead utterly failed to make any win-now moves to advance the said cause.
What does this mean for Joel Embiid? Well, this disposition certainly does not carry with it an encouraging view on the team’s win-now prospects. Clearly, the front office is already embracing the reality that Embiid is a rare spawn at this juncture tue to his injury concerns, that Tyrese Maxey is still not capable of being the alpha on a contender, and that Paul George is just a washed-up star.
Embiid, in particular, could view this as a concession. If the 76ers are willing to put a governor on their once-resounding win-now edict and punt a season of Embiid still operating at near-peak capacity (when healthy), that could just be the impetus that could force the superstar to rethink his current situation, even if the franchise thinks otherwise.
Naturally, the 2023 MVP would rave about the chance to be in a position to win a championship. If he is not getting that in Philadelphia anytime soon, that could open the floodgates for the superstar potentially seeking greener pastures.
Hopefully, this is just a case of a manic writer profusely obsessed with connecting nebulous dots. But you have to admit, it is disingenuous to think that the Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid would just be happy lying on the blurry plane they currently find themselves in.