Philadelphia 76ers too smart to ever consider Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons in trade

It turns out the San Antonio Spurs were looking to land Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons if they were to trade Kawhi Leonard to the Philadelphia 76ers.

A couple of months ago, one of the most popular topics of discussion surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers was whether the team would end up landing Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs.

For months, rumors had been swirling about the former Spurs star being on the move as a result of him being unhappy with the team, and even though Leonard would end up becoming a part of the Toronto Raptors, deep down the Sixers knew they would be just fine as a team.

Losing to the Boston Celtics in the semifinals of the playoffs was a crushing blow at the time for Philadelphia that made it seem like they were in desperate need of adding another superstar to the mix, but also they didn’t want to give up any current stars like Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons.

When looking at how quickly Simmons and Embiid made the Sixers serious contenders in the Eastern Conference, parting ways with either of them would have been foolish.

If these two youngsters were this effective during their first season playing together since they were both finally healthy, it’s clear that Simmons and Embiid are jut scratching the surface of promising careers.

So when the recent news came out that Philadelphia quickly turned down any potential deal involving Embiid or Simmons, no one should be surprised one bit.

Dane Delgado of NBC Sports recently discussed how ESPN’s Zach Lowe pointed out how the Spurs flirted with the idea of trying to land one of the two Sixers star in a potential deal with Leonard, which didn’t even seem close to happening.

Would it have been great to see Leonard join a young Philadelphia squad looking to make another leap during the 2018-19 as an even stronger contender? Absolutely.

But when looking at Leonard’s history of injuries along with the fact that he’s going to be one of the most sought-after free agents next summer, giving up Embiid or Simmons would have been a foolish move by the Sixers, which they know.

Luckily, this is one of those stories with little significance at the moment since the Leonard trade took place all the way back in the middle of July, meaning Philadelphia fans for the most part have already moved on from the deal that never took place.

Instead, the Sixers are going to continue preparing for what should be another fun season to witness, as the team looks to build off of last year’s surprise success, and give teams like the Raptors or Celtics a run for the Eastern Conference title.