With James Harden attempting to force a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers, speculation has already begun about when Joel Embiid might also ask out. While there has been no official word that Embiid is unhappy in Philadelphia, hypothetical trades for the reigning MVP were recently created by Bleacher Report, and one has Embiid going to the Golden State Warriors:
Golden State Warriors get: Joel Embiid, P.J. Tucker
Philadelphia 76ers get: Andrew Wiggins, Chris Paul, Jonathan Kuminga, 2027 first-round pick swap, 2028 first-round pick, 2029 first-round pick swap
While this is of course a hypothetical deal structure, Bleacher Report’s justification was that Philadelphia is getting a lot of variety in this package with a solid player in Wiggins who has several years left on his deal, a young player with upside in Kuminga, a big expiring deal in Paul, and of course draft choices.
This is close to the best deal Golden State could offer for Embiid, but it’s likely that Philadelphia would look for a better package elsewhere that includes a more proven rising star. While Wiggins is a one-time All-Star, he’s not the building block that Philadelphia would likely be after in any Embiid trade. While some believe Jonathan Kuminga can eventually break into that tier, he is still very unproven, which makes that a big gamble.
These hypothetical deals can be fun during this portion of the offseason, but this one feels very unlikely.