The Philadelphia 76ers open another season with their starting point guard wanting to be traded elsewhere, and what they get in return for James Harden could greatly impact Joel Embiid's future with the franchise.
While Embiid has expressed his desire to stay in Philadelphia as recently as media day, those feelings could change if the Sixers aren't title contenders for the next few years. That hinges on what they get in return for Harden, whose trade market is essentially non-existent right now. If Embiid decides he can't win a title in Philly and requests a trade at some point, the New York Knicks will be at the front of the line to acquire his services. Knicks president Leon Rose has made getting Embiid if he's available his "No. 1 priority" per the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey.
The Knicks surely won't be the only team trying to get Embiid if he asks out of Philadelphia, but they've already started piecing together a trade package if that day comes. New York would be willing to offer Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier and Mitchell Robinson, in addition to two or three first-round picks.
The Knicks are clearly eager and motivated to land Embiid, but there are likely going to be other teams around the league who could offer more lucrative trade packages to land him. The Oklahoma City Thunder, for instance, have the deepest asset arsenal in the league after years of flipping players for draft picks. The Miami Heat are always on the market to acquire more talent, and could offer a similar package of players and picks as the Knicks. And while Embiid would have his preferred list of places, as we just saw with Damian Lillard, that doesn't always work out for players.
But this, of course, is all dependent on how the Harden saga unfolds for the Sixers. Philly could get a great return for the former league MVP and all of this Embiid trade talk could be meaningless. But the vultures are already circling, and the pressure is on Daryl Morey and the rest of the Sixers front office to get the best return possible in order to keep Embiid happy.
