A day after James Harden called Philadelphia 76ers’ president Daryl Morey a liar; MVP Joel Embiid has scrubbed any mention of the team from his X, formerly known as Twitter, bio. If you’re a fan of the Sixers it has been a rough 48 hours. But what does any of it mean?
Let’s get to the facts.
Embiid Is Under Contract
Embiid just signed a four year $213 million supermax extension. He has three years left and a player option in 2026-27. The team has control over him, so it is highly unlikely they do anything. Even if he threatens to be a malcontent.
Where it gets interesting is the Harden of it all. We’ve seen him play bizarrely, show up to camp out of shape and make things difficult on his previous teams to force his way out. Can the Sixers handle that?
We know Morey is fine with uncomfortable, but is the team? How about new head coach Nick Nurse?
Embiid is 29, and with his injury history how many peak seasons does he realistically have left? If he sees Harden isn’t fully invested and Morey isn’t doing anything to bring players in who want to win now, Embiid could start exerting pressure as the franchise player.
That pressure could be in the form of a trade demand.
Not The Way To Begin A Championship Season
Morey will not move either Harden or Embiid unless he gets back maximum value. Very few teams have the assets Morey would even consider, let alone the salaries or cap space to accommodate.
The 76ers finished last season with the third-best record in the East and had a disappointing loss to the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals after holding a 3-2 series lead with a chance to close out in Game 6 at home.
