The Philadelphia 76ers are weathering the storm with James Harden, who has made his displeasure public. At least it can't get any worse, right?
A normal summer? Not in Philly. Not ever. The Philadelphia 76ers are once again marred in controversy, fittingly involving Joel Embiid's star teammate at point guard who no longer wants to be part of the team.
James Harden has formerly requested a trade from the Sixers after opting into the final year of his contract. No long-term offers materialized in free agency, despite a not-so-secret handshake deal between Harden and the front office last summer. The 33-year-old took a pay cut to help the Sixers add pieces, with the implication that he would receive a long-term max offer this summer.
Morey said no dice, or at the very least kept Harden in the dark longer than the former MVP appreciated. Now, the Sixers have called off trade talks with the goal of bringing Harden into camp. He contractually cannot hold out for more than a month, lest he run the risk of never leaving Philadelphia again. Harden, however, has no plans to play for Daryl Morey's franchise.
Harden is an expert in the trade request arena and it's no surprise to see him break out new tricks. If Harden can't force his way out the door, he can at least make it as uncomfortable as possible. As ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said, Harden's best leverage is to create an environment Joel Embiid doesn't want to be a part of.
Well… it's time for Sixers fans to get a liiiiiiiittle bit nervous.
Joel Embiid removed 'Philadelphia, PA' as his Twitter location Monday night. He also removed 'Processing…' from his bio. He even changed his profile picture from a Crypto lion thingy to a picture of himself holding a football, which hey — Philly fans are really looking forward to football too in these trying times.
Joel Embiid removes Philadelphia 76ers material from Twitter bio
It's generally unwise to pay attention to NBA players' social media accounts, but Joel Embiid is an exception to the rule. He refers to himself as 'Troel' and he's deeply online, even if the volume of tweets has diminished in recent years. Embiid has never been afraid to poke fun and start controversy on the internet. If he's going to put pressure on the Sixers front office, this might be how it starts.
If it's any consolation to the Philly faithful, Embiid does still have 'THE PROCESS' in giant block leaders in his cover photo. It's hard to imagine Embiid can translate that nickname to another franchise and ESPN has reported that the reigning MVP plans to "give everything he has to the Sixers this year." Maybe he is literally trolling.
Embiid has weathered innumerable storms with the Sixers, from Markelle Fultz's shoulder malady to his GM subtweeting him to Jimmy Butler's departure to Ben Simmons' trade request. At some point, Philly runs the risk of producing a straw that breaks the camel's back. Embiid is an all-time great Sixer and Philadelphia will continue to build around him for as long as possible, but the franchise has produce a sustainable, uncomplicated winner before it's too late.
