This post was originally published on this site.
Sixers basketball is fun right now. Joel Embiid is doing things I thought were well in the rearview mirror for him. Tyrese Maxey is continuing his superstar ascension. VJ Edgecombe is wading through the waters of being a rookie as a key contributor on a playoff team. Paul George has even turned back the clock as of late.
Complacency is never a good thing in sports when taking an aerial view, but I am content with watching this iteration of Sixers basketball for the time being, seeing wins like the ones the team pulled off Tuesday evening against Milwaukee and Thursday night against Sacramento.
Perhaps it’s just getting older and championships do remain how everything gets defined in this sport, but I’ve resigned myself to this being a non-contending season for the Sixers and, with those adjusted expectations, Sixers basketball feels a bit freeing.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to be one of the biggest names ever moved mid-season ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA Trade Deadline. In an open Eastern Conference, naturally, people wondered if the Sixers should get in the mix for a top-25 player of all time. It’s only fair! Such a deal would necessitate parting ways with Edgecombe, a boatload of picks and probably Jared McCain as well.
When the talking heads and fans started discussing the Antetokounmpo-for-Edgecombe possibility, I was so against it, writing as much for Liberty Ballers. It felt like the Sixers were finally on the cusp of building for a post-Embiid future with the Maxey-Edgecombe backcourt pairing set to carry the franchise for the next half-dozen years and potentially beyond. Maybe they wouldn’t make the NBA Finals this year, but how about that possibility come 2028 or 2029? That’s enticing no doubt.
Sixers fans on social media, understandably, are skittish about trading away the 20-year-old Edgecombe who oozes star potential for the 31-year-old Antetokounmpo.
What I now pose is a simpler question… Are we overthinking it? Am I overthinking it?
It would take approximately a tenth of a second in the aftermath of a “Antetokounmpo to Philly” push notification for me to be completely bought in to it. It would be a seismic shift in the East. An Antetokounmpo-Embiid-Maxey trio would give the team their greatest shot of finally breaking through and making the Finals in this era. The Antetokounmpo-Embiid fit isn’t perfect. The team would once again be all-in and dealing their best top-three pick in nearly a dozen years. The risk is immense, but so is the reward of watching this team play in June.
The clock is ticking on Antetokounmpo’s future and the closer we get to next Thursday, the more my mind will continue to shift back and forth when it comes to the two-time MVP.