The Philadelphia 76ers continue to be one of the more scrutinized teams in NBA history and it’s about to get worse. With Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons both out with injuries, the talk surrounding the team will continue to be focused on whether the team can win with both of them.
That continues to be the talk on everybody’s favorite sports talk show, First Take on ESPN. Max Kellerman and Stephen A. Smith have had their opinions on the two of them in the past, but Kellerman continues to add to his though that the Sixers should move Embiid.
He believes Simmons can become Giannis Antetokounmpo as he said:
When I see they build around The Freak, shooters everywhere…you can surround Simmons with smart shooters and some bigs who can defend the rim and also shoot, like Brook Lopez, you can imitate what Milwaukee did, with Simmons. Maybe even, if Simmons can stay healthy, better than Milwaukee’s doing it if he continues to develop.
Simmons has the same, sort of, skill set that Antetokounmpo has. They both are big-bodied, physical players who can make a real impact on the game. The difference, of course, is that Antetokounmpo has begun to shoot the ball while Simmons refuses to.
In terms of Embiid, Kellerman just believes he won’t last in today’s league saying:
Embiid, I don’t know, because the modern game does not favor that kind of big or bigs, period. I don’t know if you can build around him quite as successfully and, beyond that, the injury history troubles me. If Simmons’ health checks out, I think you can get a premium for a player as excellent as Embiid in the offseason. I would do it and build a team around Ben Simmons.
In all honesty, the thought of even trading a 25-year old superstar like Embiid is a little out of touch. It’s understandable to think about and entertain due to his history of injuries, but he is one of the best players in the league and he is so dominant on the low block. Simmons and Embiid form one of the better duos in the league, a team does not trade any talent like this.
At the moment, the Sixers are without both players and they embark on a 4-game west coast swing on Sunday starting with the Los Angeles Clippers. [lawrence-related id=26707,26695,26686]