At various points in 2022, it has seemed like the NBA might once again belong to the 7-footer. Joel Embiid nearly won MVP honors while becoming the first center to win the scoring title since 1999-00 (and the first to average more than 30 points a game since 1981-82). Young, up-and-coming 7-footers like Mitchell Robinson […]
In the immediate wake of the Philadelphia 76ers’ blockbuster trade for James Harden, most of the focus was on how Harden would mesh with Philly’s incumbent MVP candidate, Joel Embiid. The early returns on that front have been mostly encouraging, give or take an embarrassing blowout loss to Harden’s former team, the Brooklyn Nets, and […]
Daryl Morey waited and waited … and waited some more. It took months of criticism over holding onto disgruntled All-Star Ben Simmons and sacrificing trade leverage in hopes of acquiring stars who were seemingly not available, but the president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers finally got the superstar player he wanted: James Harden. […]
As the NBA’s March 25 trade deadline approaches, the rumor mill churns ever faster around the Philadelphia 76ers and erstwhile star Ben Simmons. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe reported last month that trade talks involving Simmons were “gathering momentum,” while Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote this week that Philadelphia was still actively looking […]
The NBA’s best players are bellwethers. Their excellence is taken as a template; they are understood to say something about the state of the game. That Nikola Jokić and Joel Embiid, the winner of and runner-up for the 2021 MVP award, put up such commendable years has a meta meaning, at least to those tired […]