Con No. 3: He could have a negative influence on how Joel Embiid views the franchise
One other key con that the Philadelphia 76ers have to be mindful of is the potential fallout that could come with Joel Embiid from this situation. The last thing the Sixers want is to be fighting for a player that doesn’t even want to be with the team in the first place only to burn a bridge with the real face of the franchise. There’s at least a non-zero chance that the Sixers’ relationship with Embiid could be negatively affected by how they treat Harden on his way out.
Ideally, Embiid never finds himself in the situation that Harden is with the Sixers. But in today’s NBA player movement climate, the odds of that happening are not high. And if the Sixers don’t take Harden’s feelings into consideration throughout this entire process, it could shed a negative light on the franchise for Embiid.
I’m not saying that it will or that the Sixers have to bend backward in order to appease Harden in this situation. No, I’m not saying that at all. At the same time, the Sixers have to tread carefully about how this situation could impact their future with Embiid.