Will Philadelphia 76ers Move Key Players After Recent Failures?

The Philadelphia 76ers have two All-stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. These two guys individually can be the foundation pieces for a championship team.

The fact that they haven’t lived up to their potential has resulted in a lot of rumours around the league. Many experts and GM’s are speculating the potential breakup of the duo and think that day id coming sooner than later

Here’s what has been said on a couple of recent podcasts. First, there is Howard Beck of the Bleacher Report, with Zach Lowe on The Full 48.

“There are plenty of people around the league who believe this is it, these are the final days of Embiid and Simmons together.”

This is how Brian Windhorst of ESPN phrased it on his Hoops Collective podcast

“But anyways, one of the conversations people are starting to have in the league is ‘will they move Embiid? What’s the price? Where would he go?’ I’m not going to get into that, but my point is people are talking about that.”

The idea of Philadelphia moving Embiid is just speculation at this point, but rumours do suggest he isn’t particularly happy in his current situation—specifically his relationship with Ben Simmons.

“Embiid wants to be the man, and out of the locker room, too,” Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard said on The Herd. “Simmons wants to be the man. They’re jealous of one another. They’re jealous of the spotlight not recognizing that they both get the spotlight, they’re both superstars. Both want to be more celebrity than a superstar basketball player.”

Embiid doesn’t appear likely to try forcing his way out of town. It seems the opposite.

Philadelphia 76ers options

Still, if Embiid and Simmons are struggling to coexist, the Sixers may have to explore their options and strategy going forward.

Sixers has two options in front of them right now. First, if they exit the playoffs early they could hire a new coach who can work on the duo’s relationship. The new coach will have around two years to work on it as both Embiid and Simmons are on contract for the next three years. If that doesn’t work they could trade Embiid as Simmons is expected to have a longer and healthier career.

Second, they make a move now and trade either Embiid or Simmons this offseason and build a team according to it. This team has to be such that it can be a title contender immediately