NBA Trade Rumors: Knicks, Rockets could pry Joel Embiid away from Sixers?

NBA Trade Rumors: If Joel Embiid has a sudden change of heart, the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks could be early suitors.

One of the bigger underrated storylines of the Philadelphia 76ers-James Harden fiasco is how this all could impact Joel Embiid and his future with the franchise. If Harden were to win this tug-of-war with Daryl Morey and the Sixers, any trade of Harden is going to leave the team in a very difficult situation.

Short of Tyrese Maxey making the leap toward superstardom this season, and that may be an unfair ask even for a player as talented as he is, the Sixers are going to be stuck with quite the dilemma in figuring out how to improve the roster around Embiidl With limited draft capital to use on the trade market, there’s a non-zero chance that Embiid could look at the rest of the Sixers roster (after a Harden trade) and make the realization that it may be in the best interest of both sides to move on from each other.

And if that were to happen, there would certainly be a huge bidding war that would commence. According to a recent report, there are two teams that, if such a situation would happen, would immediately be two intriguing options for Embiid to entertain – the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets.

Which team would make the most sense for Joel Embiid?

Both the Knicks and Rockets would make sense for Embiid. They’re both emerging teams in their respective conferences and there’s a common line of thinking that Embiid would help both teams take a huge step forward toward contention.

However, I’d argue that the team that objectively makes the most sense for Embiid, asset collection aside, is the one team that probably wouldn’t be interested in him – the Miami Heat.

With Bam Adebayo as a rising star in the league, I’d have a hard time believing that they would want to trade Bam (and pieces) for Embiid, even if the Heat ends up missing out on Damian Lillard.

In a vacuum, though, Embiid would be the ideal addition for the Heat. Jimmy Butler is close with Embiid and there’s no question that the Heat’s organization and structure are exactly what could help extend Embiid’s MVP level of play.

Again, all of this is speculation. Embiid could very well be perfectly happy in Philadelphia and he may never demand a trade away from the Sixers. But, hey, it is fun to think about.