NEWSLETTER
Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers might be eliminated from the NBA playoffs, but that doesn’t mean that Philly’s superstar big man isn’t paying attention.
Embiid was taking in the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat on Wednesday and took his thoughts to Twitter. Embiid took specific notice of the Heat – who appear to be running out of gas in these playoffs – and tweeted that Miami could use “another star” to get them over the hump.
Miami needs another Star
— Joel “Troel” Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) May 26, 2022
HMMM!
To be clear, Embiid didn’t name himself as that star, but we all know that Embiid does miss his former teammate Jimmy Butler. And Butler even echoed that same sentiment in recent weeks.
After Butler and the Heat eliminated the Sixers from the playoffs earlier this month, Embiid straight-up said he doesn’t know how the 76ers let Butler walk in free agency a couple of years ago: “I wish I could have gone to battle with him still,” the big man said.
"Still don't know how we let him go"
Embiid on Jimmy Butler no longer being a 76er pic.twitter.com/kyGhZ4dLuI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 13, 2022
Butler went on to share similar feelings about Embiid when speaking with reporters after the Heat’s Game 6 victory over Philadelphia on May 12: “I love him. I’m proud of him. Yes, yes, yes, I still wish I was on this team. I definitely love the Miami Heat, though. I’m glad that I’m here, but I got so much respect and love for Joel Embiid.”
Of course, Embiid just signed a super-max extension with the Philadelphia 76ers last summer, which means an Embiid-Butler reunion would be all kinds of tricky to pull off. Embiid’s super-max deal kicks in after next season and will run until the 2027 offseason. The five-time NBA All-Star will make $43 million during the first year of that extension, and it will escalate to $54 million in the final year of the new deal.
That would be a lot of money to absorb in a trade, especially when we consider Butler has his own extension set to kick in during the 2023-24 season.
We know that in today’s NBA, superstars have almost all of the leverage when it comes to choosing where they’re going to play. So while the return for a five-time All-Star and a perennial MVP candidate would be MASSIVE, it’s entirely possible that a deal could get done if that’s the path that Embiid ever desired.
Anyway, my basketball brain thinks it’s fun to think about an Embiid-Butler reunion in South Beach. But my Bulls brain is extremely happy that it’s nothing more than a thought exercise right now.
