While there has been speculation that reigning MVP Joel Embiid might eventually ask the Philadelphia 76ers for a trade, there are those around the NBA who doubt the superstar would do such a thing.
After such a strong showing during the season and nearly eliminating the Boston Celtics from the NBA playoffs, things have started to get messy for the Philadelphia 76ers. The team blew a lead and lost in Game 7 versus Boston, and now the team’s second-best player is very unhappy and wants out.
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Last week brought some surprise news when James Harden did not opt out of his contract as expected, and instead opted into the final year but also requested a trade out of Philly at the same time. It has now put the team in a position where they could take a major step back next season and has some wondering about how this affects Joel Embiid’s satisfaction with the organization.
This is a very unique time in NBA history where superstar talents asking for an escape from certain cities has become commonplace. While Damian Lillard has gotten a lot of attention this week for requesting a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, it took a long time for that to happen and he resisted looking for his way out of town, unlike some of his elite contemporaries in similar situations.
Joel Embiid stats (’22-’23): 33.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.7 BPG
That uncommon loyalty to the franchise is something one executive believes Joel Embiid shares with Damian Lillard and it’s why his asking for a trade out of Philadelphia would be a shocking development.
“No, just no way,” an NBA general manager told Heavy.com on Monday about Embiid asking for a trade. “He is a different kind of character. He is a lot more like Lillard and [Bradley] Beal because he wants to be loyal to the team, he wants to stay there, and he has a lot of appreciation for how he has been treated there. Now, his contract is up in [2026] so that’s three years. It’s tough, the position he is in. If we’re still talking about this in three years, you’d expect the story to change by then.”
Washington Wizards great Bradley Beal was traded last month, but that was also after years of speculation and agreeing to a new max deal in 2022 before the team realized they needed to start from scratch and decided to move him.
If there is one NBA executive that believes Joel Embiid is unlikely to ask for a trade, there are probably many others that are in the known and feel the same way.