Joel Embiid Calls Out Former Sixers Teammate Seth Curry

Getty Joel Embiid #21 and Seth Curry #31 of the Philadelphia 76ers converse during the third quarter against the Atlanta Hawks

Seth Curry was an underrated piece that the Brooklyn Nets acquired as part of last February’s blockbuster James Harden trade. The Philadelphia 76ers included Curry, Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond, and two draft picks in exchange for Harden and Paul Millsap from the Nets. Simmons didn’t wind up taking the court for the Nets last season, but Curry proved to be a valuable addition with his nearly 15 points per game (14.9) on over 46 percent three point shooting.

Joel Embiid Compliments and Takes Shot at Seth Curry

Many were surprised when Curry was included in the deal for Harden. Curry’s former Sixers teammate Joel Embiid spoke about his time playing with Curry after a December 9 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. He called their two-man game “unbelievable.” While he was complimentary in his comments about Curry, he also didn’t hesitate to take a humorous shot at Curry.

“It helps a lot. I had JJ, JJ was great. Seth was—I think Seth cared a lot about his percentages so he didn’t want to take bad shots, but yeah, I mean JJ, it was on another level. Just the difficulty of the type of shots he was taking, and it was just unbelievable. That’s why our two-man game was so successful. Same thing with Seth. Our two-man game was unbelievable, too,” Embiid said postgame when asked about the value of having the shooting of De’Anthony Melton on the court with him.

While Embiid may believe that Curry didn’t take enough shots while he was in Philadelphia, it’s easy to understand why he has such an affinity for their partnership. Across the 1126:07 game minutes that Curry and Embiid spent on the floor during the 2020-21 season, the duo outscored opponents by 15.1 points per 100 possessions.

Now as a member of the Nets, Curry continues to be a key shot-maker for Brooklyn but has struggled with injuries early this season and is averaging a down 9.7 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.1 rebounds per game. Numbers that the Nets hope can grow as the season goes on and he continues to fully recover from injury.

Nets Could Trade Seth Curry This Season

While his numbers aren’t what the Nets are used to, there is a chance that Curry could be available on the trade market this season. Prior to the start of the 2022-23 NBA season, an Eastern Conference executive told Heavy Sports he believes that the Nets will look to trade either Curry or fellow sharpshooter Joe Harris before February’s trade deadline.

“One of them [Curry or Harris] will get dealt before the deadline, that would be my guess. Both are really good shooters, obviously, that is their skill. But both are bad defenders who will be targeted in the playoffs. Obviously, finding a new home for either guy has not been the priority for them this summer so, no, they have not really had talks about a deal for either guy so far.

But I suspect they’ll want to come out and see how healthy Harris is, see if he is back to his old form, then they may start to figure out what they can get for him vs. what they can get for Curry. Harris has more value if he can show he is healthy — he is not as poor a defender as Curry. If they’re going to try to make a deep playoff run, Harris is more likely the one they’d keep,” the executive told Heavy.