The NBA world is watching and waiting for Joel Embiid to request a trade from the Sixers, an outcome that may never happen. If the reigning MVP hits the trade market, Leon Rose and the New York Knicks will be ready to make their move.
Rachel Nichols said on Undisputed that James Harden’s trade request was because he believes he should be “leading the show.” The Sixers are Embiid’s team, as they should be. With only a few weeks remaining until training camp, the Harden situation will likely worsen as he’s made it clear he wants to leave Philadelphia. The organization stopped engaging in trade talks centered around the 34-year-old guard.
The Sixers won’t trade Harden unless they get a good trade package in return, and it doesn’t seem that will happen anytime soon. Embiid could be the next domino to fall in Philadelphia if tensions get high enough.
It wouldn’t be a shock if Embiid requested a trade sometime in the next year, and if he does, the Knicks will be one of the teams communicating with the Sixers about a trade. However, New York should carefully proceed before sending the farm to a division rival for several reasons.
3 reasons Knicks should be careful about going all-in for Joel Embiid
3: Making a deal with Daryl Morey
The Knicks tax is real, but it’ll become especially real if New York has trade conversations with Philadelphia regarding Joel Embiid. Daryl Morey and the Sixers will try to get everything they possibly can in return for Embiid but will try to get the world from the Knicks.
Morey would likely instead send Embiid to any team but one that competes in the Atlantic Division, but if New York can put together the best offer, he should put the rivalry aside and accept the package.
The 2022 offseason was dominated by the Knicks and Jazz trade talks for Donovan Mitchell, and Danny Ainge isn’t an easy executive to negotiate with. If New York pursues Embiid, Morey will fall in the same category as Ainge. While it’s common for stars to request trades in today’s NBA, the price tag of acquiring one continues to rise.
If Morey’s price for Embiid is too astronomical, the Knicks must stand their ground and not succumb to the Sixers’ demands. New York is going to have to give up a lot to get Embiid regardless, but there is a line that should be drawn in the sand.
2: Injury history
Joel Embiid is seven feet tall with a 280-pound frame, so the idea of him playing all 82 games in a regular season is a far-fetched dream. The load management concept was explicitly created for players like Embiid.
In 2022-23, he played in 66 regular season games, but he sprained his right knee on April 20 and didn’t return to the lineup until Game 2 of the Sixers’ first-round series against the Nets.
Embiid a little over a game and a half before injuring his knee again late in Game 3, and he was out for Game 4. At that point, Philadelphia had a comfortable 3-0 lead over Brooklyn, and his injury didn’t prevent the Sixers from sweeping the Nets. Embiid did miss Game 1 of the second round against the Celtics, but Philadelphia managed to win without him.
The Knicks have likely already thought about the center’s durability, but it’d be a dagger if the team traded for Embiid only for him to be forced to miss postseason games due to injury. The Knicks will have to give up a chunk of their depth to get Embiid, so it’d be harder to replace him if he were sidelined.
The good news is that Embiid has missed a combined 30 regular season games in the past two seasons, but injuries will become even more of a concern as he gets older.
1: Playoff resume
The last time the Sixers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals was in 2001, and Joel Embiid isn’t solely responsible for Philadelphia’s playoff failures. However, one of the Knicks’ main reasons to trade for a star would be so they could help the team make a run to the NBA Finals, and that isn’t something Embiid has done before.
Philadelphia was one win away from making it to the ECF this past year, but Embiid and James Harden fell flat against Boston in Game 7. In a demoralizing 112-88 loss, Embiid scored only 15 points (5-of-18) in 38 minutes with eight rebounds, two blocks, and four turnovers. He was outscored by Tobias Harris, who had 19 points, in the Sixers’ most important game in the past two decades.
Even star players aren’t immune from having bad games, but Embiid would need to be a better playoff performer if New York gave up its assets for him. The Knicks haven’t made it to the ECF since 2000, and if they traded for Embiid and could not at least make it that far in his first couple of seasons in NYC, the trade would quickly be labeled a disaster.
Jalen Brunson is a notorious playoff performer, though, so he’d help to unlock a new level of Embiid’s game. Even after giving up a few players for Embiid, New York could also put a better supporting cast around the star center.
Still, Joel Embiid’s postseason struggles are something the Knicks’ front office shouldn’t ignore when considering whether or not to put all of their chips on the table for him.