NBA Trade Rumors: Former GM Urges Philadelphia 76ers to Keep Embiid-Simmon Duo Intact

The Philadelphia 76ers are in an awkward position in the league. On paper, their roster looks fantastic, but for the last few seasons, the Simmons-Embiid duo has failed to deliver in the postseason.

Following another playoff meltdown, the 76ers fired head coach Brett Brown. Doc Rivers replaced Brown, who himself is coming from a pretty shaky season with the Clippers. Naturally, many people are speculating if Rivers should break up the duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

Former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie was surprised by this conclusion. He defended the young stars and put the trade rumors to bed.

“Oh gosh. Don’t people remember what it took to get them? Right? For all of them. Getting a star player in the NBA is like not impossibly hard, but close. Right? And requires an incredible amount of luck, or an amazing amount of time, or some other way to try to get at it.

“What is Joel? 26? To have a young player who is nominally in a traditional sense just entering his prime and say ‘We’ve got to blank.’ No, job one is you’ve got to get great players on your team. That’s job one. And he is one. I’m not alone on this.”

Although the duo has failed to carry the 76ers to a deep playoff run, they are still young. As Hinkie pointed out, the Sixers should give it a few more years before hitting the panic button.

What’s next for the Philadelphia 76ers?

This was a forgettable postseason run for Philly, as they didn’t have Ben Simmons on the roster due to injury issues. Additionally, they faced the juggernauts Celtics in the first round itself. In front of them, even Embiid’s 30.0 ppg was of no use.

The bigger problem for the Sixers are the terrible contracts of Tobias Harris and Al Horford, who were awful in the playoffs. Moving forward, if the team does not perform at an elite level, it will be difficult to keep Simmons and Embiid at bay for long.

What do you think about the recent rumors regarding trading Simmons and Embiid? Should the Philadelphia 76ers break up the duo?