Joel Embiid Said the Last Thing I Want to Hear

"The not-so-good news is the Joel Embiid talk. What he said about winning a championship. Listen, guys are guys, I understand in the NBA it is a players league. But coming home and hearing this? I don't appreciate it, Joel.

Whether it is in Philly or somewhere else? I don't appreciate it. One of the reasons they haven't won a championship is going back to when they had Butler, Joel had a case of the tummies. I love him. I have talked about how incredible of a player he is. he is one of my favorite players. but he went out with a whimper. In game 6 you didn't touch the ball, and you didn't demand the ball. Then in game 7 you and James Harden quit.

I hate to say it, and I don't want to be nasty about it. But that rubs me the wrong way. The last thing I need to see is him going somewhere else and winning a title. I am not going to be happy for him. We haven't had a title since 1983. Before most of you were born. So I don't want to hear it.

Quite frankly, I am looking at this roster, and I'm praying Morey has something up his sleeve. I don't understand the merits of 3 backup bigs. They are a bucket of chicken right now, with no wings. Where is the scoring? There has to be something else. In a game where the big is devalued, now you have all of those backup bigs?

When Joel says I want to win a title, I am with you. We have been with you. We suffered through the process with you. Just don't say elsewhere. Say I want to win a championship in Philadelphia. Joel is a bright man. Everything he says, he knows what he is saying. That was said on purpose. And the idea of him winning elsewhere is frightening. If I'm a Sixers fan, that is the last thing I want to hear."

Joel Embiid sent Sixers fans into a panicked frenzy this morning. A video started circulating late last night of Joel Embiid saying that he wants to win a Champion in Philadelphia, "or anywhere else." It's the or anywhere else that has fans worried. It is a suggestion that we could be near the breaking point for Joel Embiid in Philly. After 5 2nd round exits, is Joel Embiid almost ready to ask out?

Maybe? And in anticipation of that, there are people who want to trade him before he does. Thinking that it would mean they could get a better deal now than after he asks for a trade. But whether he actually is thinking about asking out or not, it does not matter. You do not get better by trading him. Regardless of when you trade him, you are going to lose that deal.

What could they possibly get right now that would make trading him worth it? First-round picks? One, unless it comes from a 3rd team that pick will not be any good. Two, you have no clue where that pick will be because of the lottery. Players? Any team trading for Embiid would want to pair him with whatever elite talent they already have. You aren't going to get an active player whose value is equal to Embiid. Let's say he goes to the Heat. So what would it be? Bam Adebayo? That's what you want to blow it up for?

Being worried about those statements is understandable. We don't know if he means it, because Embiid says a lot of things. Just the idea he could mean it is scary for the future of the Sixers. But it does not matter. You don't trade Embiid. The Sixers' only chance to get out of this bad situation is to hope something works out this season.

Because trading Super Stars almost never works out for the people trading him. Need proof? Here is the recent history of what teams have gotten back for trading Super Stars. And you will notice a pattern. None of the teams who traded the Super Star have seen much success since doing so.

Brooklyn receives:

Philadelphia receives:

The Nets were in a unique position at the time because they had two other Super-Stars. A year after making this trade, they had none of them. This trade has been a bit of a disaster for the Nets. Andre Drummond left after the half-season. Seth Curry is leaving this offseason and barely played last year. And Ben Simmons, well we know how much of a disaster he is.

The picks became 21 in this past draft, and the 2027 pick is top 8 protected. So even if the Sixers do fall apart, they won't get the benefit of a high pick. And that is the thing about picks. When you trade a Super Star, the picks never end up being good. They are either protected or outside the lottery.

It didn't work out great for the Sixers either. But that doesn't help the Nets.

Lakers receive:

New Orleans receives:

Washington receives:

You could argue this is the best haul any team got back for trading a Superstar. Brandon Ingram is a borderline All-Star. Hart helped them land CJ McCollum. The 4th overall pick went to Atlanta to bring back Jaxson Hayes. And they flipped Lonzo Ball a couple of seasons later.

And yet, what do they have to show for it? Brandon Ingram is the only big piece left. I suppose the Lakers 2024, or 2025 pick if they defer, could be something? The Lakers won't be bad enough this year. If LeBron leaves after next year though, 2025 could maybe be something. They made the playoffs once and lost in the 1st round. As good as the haul was, so far it has not led to very much for them. And this is an example people will raise of a team getting a good deal when trading a Super Star.

LA Clippers receive: 

Oklahoma City receives: 

Again, another deal where on paper, the Thunder got good value back. Shai is a stud, and that is a lot of picks. But none of those Clippers picks will be worth anything. Nor will the Heat picks. And the picks swaps, well it is unlikely the Thunder will use those because their picks will likely be worse than the Clippers in 2025 anyway.

The Thunder made the playoffs once after this trade and made the play in the year after. They are a team with a nice crop of young guys. But are they a team that is going to win anything anytime soon? Probably not. But getting this much back is probably the best-case scenario for any team trading a Super Star.

Toronto receives:

San Antonio receives:

The Spurs have not done much at all since making this trade. They may finally be on the rise, after winning the Draft Lottery. And that is the one beneficial thing of trading a Superstar, it often makes you bad enough to be in that lottery discussion. But that will happen whether you trade Embiid now, or wait for him to ask out.

Demar Derozan isn't there anymore. And Poeltl is not exactly a needle mover. It is not a great return for a player of Kawhi Leonard's caliber.

Los Angeles receives: 

Orlando receives:

Philadelphia receives:

Denver receives:

Sixers fans are all too familiar with this trade. It's the thing that eventually kicked off our process. But obviously, the important part here is what the Magic got back. And clearly, it was a lot. But all those players, and all those picks. And yet, all these years later, they are still cellar dwellers. Some of those players, notably Vucevic, played well for them. But it never led to any winning.

They have used all those picks, and most of those players are gone. Enough time has passed to say this trade did not work for the Magic. It didn't work for any team involved. But for what is relevant to this conversation, the Magic traded their Super Star center and got nothing of long-term value back.

Cleveland receives: 

Minnesota receives: 

Philadelphia receives:

On paper, this feels like it should be the perfect trade of a Superstar. The Cavs just so happened to be in the place where they had the first overall pick and got the prize of the draft in Wiggins, yet also were ready to compete so interested in trading for a Super Star. That is rarely the case. And even if it does, it did not work out for the Wolves. Wiggins was not a bust, but not the generational player he was billed as.

The Timberwolves are still not really back from this trade. They got another star in Karl Anthony Towns. But it has not led to much winning.

But it does show there is a benefit to waiting until draft time. Because then you can at least know what player from the draft you are getting in return. If you did it now, you are just buying a lottery ticket and hoping it cashes.

New York receives: 

Denver receives: 

Minnesota receives:

At the time, Carmelo was probably the best player in Nuggets' history. Now Jokic has that crown. But trading Anthony was a big deal. And in the short term, it worked. Danilo Gallinari helped lift them to a 57-win season before his injury derailed the season. Long term though, it did not do too much for them.

That 2014 first-round pick ended up in Philly and turned into Dario Saric. The 2nd round picks were not one of the picks that turned into Jokic. It was a good return. But as we have seen with nearly every other team, it did not lead to long-term winning.

Nets receive:

Utah receives: 

At a time, Deron Williams was at that level of a star. We never really saw it after he left the Jazz. But it was a pretty big deal when he landed with the Nets. And they got decent value back. But that is mostly because the Nets were a disaster. They got the 3rd overall pick. But that, unfortunately, turned into Enes Kanter.

It feels really unlikely that the Sixers would trade Embiid to a team, and have them fall apart as quickly as the Nets did after this trade. And even though it worked out, it didn't really. This didn't lead to some great Jazz rebuild. Eventually, they got better, but not because of things they got back in this trade. And now they are rebuilding again.

Houston receives:

Indiana receives:

Cleveland receives: 

And now we come to the other big Harden deal. The players they got back turned into nothing. The picks still have a chance. The Nets were not a lottery team last year. Could they be one going forward? It feels like Mikal Bridges and co. may be good enough to avoid that, even if it is just to go out in round 1.

This still could pan out. But so far they have not gotten much out of it. It depends on what happens with the picks going forward. But as we have seen, getting a ton of picks back, very rarely works out for teams. It is usually at best middle of the first-round picks. And while those could pan out well, that is no guarantee. Do we really want to give up Embiid, before we have to, in the hopes a pick in the 20s works out for them? That is not something I want to do.