Would Embiid really be someone who gets traded?
The New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers are rumored to be close to making a huge trade similar to the trade for Damian Lillard the Bucks made this offseason. That Lillard trade might certainly be the defining trade of GM Jon Horst’s tenure. It was certainly unexpected for most Bucks fans. And this trade would also have major ramifications throughout the Eastern Conference as teams try to catch up to the roster talent of the Bucks and Celtics.
Would this trade get disgruntled star James Harden to play again with the 76ers? You’d have to think so.
Here is the deal from NBA Expert Tyree Bones, and NBA Expert Keith Pompey all through NBA Central:
The Philadelphia 76er’s Receive: 2 First Round Picks
F Julius Randle
G/F R.J. Barrett
G Evan Fournier
C Mitchell Robinson
The New York Knicks Receive:
Joel Embiid
The New York Knicks are reportedly willing to offer a package that includes 2-3 1st-round picks, Julius Randle, R.J. Barrett, Evan Fournier, and Mitchell Robinson in exchange for Joel Embiid, per @PompeyOnSixers pic.twitter.com/xzC8DXPwid
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 24, 2023
Embiid’s History
The 29 year old MVP still has some good years ahead of him. Over his career he has averaged an astounding 27.2 points per game. He has also shot an incredible 50% from the field. He has done all of this while still pulling down 11 rebounds a game.
All of this from the center position, the position most “void” of talent in the NBA.
During his MVP season last season check out this stat line: 33.1 points per game, 10.2 rebounds and 4,2 steals. Embiid also averaged close to two blocks (1.7) per game. That is very impressive.
Related: A Preview of the Bucks Centers
Embiid does not have much of a weakness to his game. If you had to pick two things it would have to be free throw shooting (80% career average) and passing (3 assists a game). But those two things are very nit-picky. He is a truly complete player who can almost single-handedly win a game for his team.
Similar to Giannis and Lillard, Joel Embiid is able to control the tempo and flow of a game, getting to and making his shots.
How might this impact the Bucks?
Well, having Embiid in New York would certainly be better for Milwaukee than having him in Philadelphia because of the other talent on the roster. New York has Quentin Grimes and not much else after dealing for Embiid. You would have to think that New York will still need another year or two to build up talent around him.
Related: A Preview of the Bucks Forwards
But this trade also makes the 76er’s less of a threat.
Randle is a great player; so is Harden. But even together they just don’t seem to pose the overall threat Joel Embiid poses by himself. It would give the 76er’s some great depth. But it feels like the only player to be able to add some long-term depth is R.J. Barrett. Barrett can play and still has the potential to bloom into an NBA star, above where he is today.
Embiid, however, is playing at the top of his game.
And to think the Bucks could have had Joel Embiid. (Click on the article below.)
Redrafting the 2014 NBA Draft
Many “mock NBA redrafts” have Milwaukee selected Embiid second. Could you even imagine? Giannis together with Embiid! Wow!
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1 Comment
Kind of a weak analysis for several reasons and erroneous assertions.
First of all, the Knicks have Brunson, Hart, DiVincenzo, and Quickley. All of them had career years last year (Brunson by a significant margin, especially making others better). Donte and Josh were roughly the same in their solid contributions in all aspects, but they shot significantly better in eFG% than any other years in their careers and that’s due to Brunson. Grimes is a decent player, but I don’t know if I see him becoming a big time scorer. It could all work well with Embiid, but I’ve always thought he was a bad athlete who made others around him worse and ate up a lot of possession time without scoring commensurate with that (efficient as he is). It could be a horrible failure just as easily.
The most solid player the Sixers get is actually Robinson, a great defender and athletic and opportunistic scorer who won’t take up any of Embiid’s usage. Fournier is next best if he can bounce back from a shortened and down season. Barrett is likely a bust and has had a horrible start to what was supposed to be a superstar career and I’m not sure Harden can make him better if Brunson could not. Randle is a terrible athlete and the most overrated player in the league, a bad ball handler when pressured and TO prone, and not at all a great player. He’s a poor defender and especially bad in the playoffs, so the Knicks are largely making this move to get out of the long term commitment to him that would just lead to a string of play off failures. He will require so much usage–or if Harden dominates the ball become a much lesser scorer or threat, much like DeRozan has been exposed as a guy who also makes his team work–that Harden may not be all that excited for the pieces being brought in.
Neither team was really a threat to the Bucks, but this would be two playoff caliber teams blowing it up and looking down the road. The Knicks have more of a chance to continue to be a play off team with a more solid overall roster–guys like Sims are uber athletic and could replace Mitchell’s work–because I think the guys the Sixers bring in will send them to the lottery, despite some other decent talent on the roster (mainly Maxey).