As the 76ers work with James Harden to find him a new NBA home, Daryl Morey and the front office are already thinking about ways to replace his production. Admittedly, the options are limited for a Philly team that’s already well over the cap, but trading James could give them the assets needed to pursue other big-name stars.
Appearing on the ESPN show ‘Pardon The Interruption,’ Brian Windhorst dropped the latest intel out of Philadelphia and explained how the Sixers could be primed to acquire either Damian Lillard or Kyrie Irving to pair with the reigning league MVP.
“I would not be surprised if we see Kyrie Irving wanna investigate what’s going on in Philadelphia. If Harden moves out, there’s a window for him to come in,” said Windy. “The other name here is Damian Lillard. Is it possible that Philadelphia could acquire assets from Los Angeles, put their assets together and make an offer for Dame Lillard? That is an option, Kyrie Irving is an option, or they can go with Tyrese Maxey and take whatever assets they might get in a James Harden trade, and send them somewhere else.”
Windhorst talking about Kyrie Irving or Damian Lillard scenarios to Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/C2lWclaRN5
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) June 29, 2023
As one of the top players in the world, Joel Embiid doesn’t want to spend his prime years playing for nothing. He wants to win, and right now, Philly isn’t in a better position to win than they were a month ago.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Embiid if Philly doesn’t find a replacement for Harden, but you can bet that Daryl Morey will not rest until he’s got a team capable of going all the way.
Could The Sixers Trade Embiid?
Moving off of Joel Embiid is obviously a last resort for the Sixers, but it’s probably the best way for the team to stack up assets and build for the future. It’s uncertain how Joel feels about Harden’s departure, but it seems unlikely he’ll be down for running it back without a co-star.
Needless to say, the pressure is on for Philly to make the right decision and get the best return they can for Harden, or it could have some drastic implications on their future with Embiid.
Together, Harden and Joel reached the Conference Semi-Finals before flaming out against the Celtics in Game 7.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
