NBA Trade Rumors: 4 Joel Embiid trades Philadelphia 76ers must consider

New York Knicks

If push came to shove and the Philadelphia 76ers found themselves in a position where they had to trade Joel Embiid, I believe that the New York Knicks should be in the bidding war. Or at least, that should be the Sixers’ goal – to get them in a bidding war. The Knicks have a great array of trade assets that could be of great interest to the Sixers. If they are going to go down this road, the return for Embiid would have to be historic.

Embiid is an MVP that is in the midst of his prime years. Any return for Embiid would have to include a flurry of future picks and that’s exactly what the Knicks have. In this hypothetical deal, the Knicks would send three future first-round picks, perhaps top 5 protected or something along those lines.

In addition to those picks, the Sixers would also ask for a couple of the team’s young players – Mitchell Robinson, Obi Toppin, and Quentin Grimes would work. The Sixers would have to take Evan Fournier on to make the money work, but he’s an expiring deal so it’s not a big holdup.

The Knicks would have their established core of Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett, and Embiid. They would still also be able to trade Julius Randle elsewhere as a wonky fit next to Embiid. The Sixers would get a nice package to jumpstart their rebuild. It’s not ideal but it might be the best realistic package Philadelphia could get for Embiid.