NBA insider Chris Broussard had indicated that there were rumors that Sixers center Joel Embiid wanted to go to New York. “He’s going to come out now and say it because he doesn’t want the backlash from the Philadelphia fans,” Broussard added Friday on FS1’s “First Things First.”
According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
The New York Knicks are willing to offer a package that includes three key players, with Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier and Mitchell Robinson all available in exchange for Joel Embiid, according to sources. A trio from that group would be paired with two or three first-round picks.
Publicly, Embiid has expressed his love for Philadelphia and his desire to win a championship there. The tenuous James Harden situation provided a solution to all of this.
With Harden, who wants to be traded after failing to reach a contract extension with Philadelphia, falling out with Sixers general manager Daryl Morey, Embiid could become impatient and force his way out.
That left Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose salivating. Embiid is now Rose’s No. 1 priority, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.