Getty Joel Embiid and James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The New York Knicks have the assets to acquire the league’s reigning MVP, Joel Embiid, from the Philadelphia 76ers, according to Jordanna Clark of FanSided’s Daily Knicks.
“The goal has been for Embiid to win a title for the Sixers, but the organization’s outlook to make it to that point isn’t looking good,” Clark wrote without elaborating in a story published July 23. “It wouldn’t be a shock for him to request a trade so that he could try to win a championship elsewhere, namely the Knicks. New York has the assets to get a deal done, and Embiid used to be represented by former CAA agent Leon Rose.”
Indeed, the Knicks have eight tradable first-round draft picks from 2024 to 2030, according to Real GM.
In what has been the league’s “worst-kept secret,” according to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, the Knicks “have been compiling and keeping a hold of their first-round draft picks hoping — and praying — that Embiid asks out.”
Knicks a ‘Potential Landing Spot’ for Sixers’ Joel Embiid
Pompey, appearing on July 22 on SiriusXM’s NBA Radio, said he could “see that absolutely happening,” referring to trade for Embiid, who agreed to a supermax extension in September 2022 that would keep him in Philadelphia through 2027.
“Leon Rose used to be his agent, Joel already owns a house up in New York, he’s had it for a while,” Pompey said.
Could the Knicks be looking to acquire Joel Embiid?
@PompeyOnSixers tells @EvCoRadio and @SamMitchellNBA it’s the worst kept secret in basketball.
In June, Embiid’s teammate James Harden requested a trade out of Philadelphia. If the 76ers don’t accommodate him, Embiid himself might be more likely to want to leave, according to Russell Richardson of SB Nation’s Posing and Toasting.
“Like the rest of the league, the Knicks are waiting to see how the Harden saga impacts Joel Embiid’s happiness,” Richardson wrote in a July 24 story about Embiid’s wedding over the weekend. “This past weekend in the Hamptons, he seemed happy enough. Noticeably absent was James Harden, the star guard who wants to be traded from the team. Conventional wisdom seems to be that Embiid will request a trade if Harden leaves. Wouldn’t it be a fun twist if Harden staying is what drives Embiid away?”
James Harden’s Longtime Teammate in Sixers Trade Talks
Harden’s trade situation could have a domino effect on Embiid in the future, but it’s already having an effect on the present. P.J. Tucker, Harden’s longtime Sixers and Houston Rockets teammate, PJ Tucker, also is in trade talks, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.
“PJ Tucker, Harden’s longtime teammate with the Rockets and Sixers, has come up in trade discussions between the 76ers and Clippers, league sources told HoopsHype,” Scotto wrote on July 21. “The Clippers covet Tucker’s ability to guard multiple positions and defend the league’s top opposing scorers. Tucker is owed $11 million this upcoming year and has a $11.54 million player option for the 2024-25 season.”
As Harden’s trade saga drags on through the summer, more of his Sixers teammates are seemingly subject to be drawn into the rumor mill. Embiid averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game en route to his first MVP award. But the 76ers were bounced in the Easter Conference semifinals by the Boston Celtics.
“If you add Joel Embiid to [the Knicks],” Pompey said, “that team is going to be catapulted to one of the top teams in the East.”