One NBA writer is proposing that the Miami Heat acquire Joel Embiid from the Philadelphia 76ers in a gigantic blockbuster trade. Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report proposed the following trade idea between the Sixers and Heat:
Miami Heat receive: Joel Embiid, P.J. Tucker and Furkan Korkmaz
Philadelphia 76ers receive: Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Nikola Jović, 2027 first-round pick, 2029 first-round pick and 2028 first-round pick swap
“If the Heat sign off on this, they do it because they see Embiid as the missing piece of their championship puzzle,” Buckley wrote in his latest NBA trade column. “They also use P.J. Tucker to fill the P.J. Tucker-sized hole they’ve had at power forward since he bounced out of South Beach in 2022 free agency and hope Furkan Korkmaz finds his niche as a reserve shooter.”
Embiid has removed “Processing” and the location “Philadelphia, PA” from his Twitter bio. Former NBA MVP James Harden, who has requested a trade from the Sixers, called Daryl Morey a liar during his Adidas tour in China and said he’ll never play for Philadelphia again.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Miami Heat, Joel Embiid & Philadelphia 76ers Updates
Could Embiid request a trade from the Sixers next? It’s possible since he and Harden are friends. If Embiid finds out that Morey lied to Harden, the big man could look for a new team to play for so he doesn’t have to deal with Morey’s lies anymore.
In 394 regular-season games with the Sixers, Embiid is averaging 27.2 points and 11.2 rebounds. He has made six All-Star teams, five All-NBA teams and three All-Defensive teams and won one MVP Award. However, the Sixers have never gotten past the second round of the playoffs in the Embiid era.
Embiid averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds last season for the Sixers while shooting 54.8% from the field, 33.0% from beyond the arc and 85.7% from the free-throw line. He won the MVP Award. Philadelphia swept the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the 2023 playoffs but lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in seven games.
Embiid, who signed a four-year, $210 million contract extension in 2021, obviously wants Harden to stay with the Sixers, but Harden intends to “never wear” a Philadelphia uniform again, sources told NBA Analysis Network.
Heat star Jimmy Butler and Embiid are close friends. They were teammates on the Sixers during the 2018-19 season and Embiid was upset when Philadelphia didn’t re-sign Butler in the summer of 2019. Miami is trying to trade for Damian Lillard, who has requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, but the Blazers and Heat haven’t made any progress on a deal.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Miami Heat, Joel Embiid & Philadelphia 76ers Updates
If the Heat get word that Embiid is looking to leave the Sixers, perhaps they should focus their attention on the reigning NBA MVP and forget about acquiring Lillard.
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