Should the Knicks trade for Joel Embiid?
Joel Embiid to the Knicks? People are putting it out there. There are certainly reasons to believe it could happen. For starters, who knows his relationship with new Sixers coach Nick Nurse? They certainly had it out for one another while Nurse was in Toronto.
Furthermore, James Harden looks more and more likely to leave Philly with each passing day. It’s a tough spot to be in, considering Embiid just won his first MVP and his second straight-scoring title. As a Knicks fan, I’ll go into the pros and cons to a potential Joel Embiid trade to New York.
Pros
The thing with Embiid is that the idea is sometimes much better than the reality. Depending on the cost, a big three of Embiid, Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle could wreak havoc on the Eastern Conference. Again, when fully healthy, the reigning MVP is arguably the most dominant player in the league for more reasons than one.
For starters, he has pieces of every great center we’ve seen over the past 50 years. Physical dominance like Shaquille O’Neal; Footwork and post moves like Hakeem Olajuwon; Touch around the rim like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Defensive excellence like David Robinson; an inside-outside arsenal like Patrick Ewing.
Embiid has a crazy diverse toolbox. I will be the first to tell you that Knicks fans would absolutely love it. The Garden would be sold out in no time.
As well, acquiring Embiid will effectively take the 76ers out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. Daryl Morey would have to either go into rebuild mode or jump ship for another contender. The top of the East would roughly consist of the Bucks, Celtics, Knicks, Heat and Cavaliers.
In all honesty, you’d probably like your chances against any of those teams in the playoffs. We saw New York eliminate the Cavs in five games and take Miami to six games with an injured Randle and clearly banged-up Brunson. It’s even possible that the Celtics fade out of contention with Jaylen Brown‘s contract situation. However, this is all hypothetical. This leads me to the cons.
Cons
As I said earlier, Embiid in theory tends to be better than Embiid in reality. This is a guy who has never played over 68 games in a regular season. That number will also likely not be surpassed as he just turned 29.
In Game 7 in Boston in the East semifinals, he went 5-18 from the field en route to an embarrassing loss. He does have a history of taking games off in the playoffs. As well, who even knows what Daryl Morey’s asking price could be?
Leon Rose could be playing with fire if he sends a treasure chest of young assets and draft picks down the New Jersey Turnpike.
Keeping Embiid on the floor at 100 percent is the biggest red flag in this scenario. If it was up to me, the most I would give up is Mitchell Robinson, RJ Barrett, three first-round picks, other salary fillers and one of Immanuel Quickley or Quentin Grimes.
But even then, that is nearing the Kevin Durant package Brooklyn received from Phoenix. My starting offer would be considerably less if I was on the phone with Morey.
Verdict
For me, it’s all about the cost. If the Durant and Rudy Gobert trades have ruined the market, then I would say run it back with this group and try to find more supporting pieces that fit in. However, if there is a middle ground to be found and the juice becomes worth the squeeze, then I would consider it.
Randle and Embiid are known to be friends considering they got drafted in the same year. Chemistry obviously wouldn’t be the issue here.
