James Harden, who begins his adventure with the Sixers this Friday evening, has apparently always wanted to join Philadelphia when Daryl Morey is very happy to have recovered his former player from Houston. But did Joel Embiid absolutely want to team up with the 2018 MVP?
Obviously, the All-Star pivot had another target in his sights to replace Ben Simmons this season. According to journalist Bill Simmons, it was Bradley Beal who was the Cameroonian’s priority.
“That’s what I heard and I got some pretty good information during this story”affirms our confer in his podcast. “Embiid really wanted Bradley Beal and he was pushing hard in that direction. He talked about himself all the time. He pushed again and again. “
Except that two camps seemed to clash in Philadelphia: that of Embiid, who was targeting Beal, and another, who already had the former Rockets star in mind.
“If this transfer took so long, it’s because part of the franchise wanted Harden, obviously with Daryl Morey”continues Bill Simmons. “Embiid felt Beal was more suited to the Sixers. He insisted. Then Beal got hurt (left wrist), but Embiid kept talking about it and wanting it. Finally, Beal was out of the rest of the season with his surgery. That’s how this story ended. ”
| Joel Embiid | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2016-17 | PHL | 31 | 25 | 46.6 | 36.7 | 78.3 | 2.0 | 5.9 | 7.8 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 20.2 |
| 2017-18 | PHL | 63 | 30 | 48.3 | 30.8 | 76.9 | 2.3 | 8.7 | 11.0 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 3.7 | 1.8 | 22.9 |
| 2018-19 | PHL | 64 | 34 | 48.4 | 30.0 | 80.4 | 2.5 | 11.1 | 13.6 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 27.5 |
| 2019-20 | PHL | 51 | 30 | 47.7 | 33.1 | 80.7 | 2.8 | 8.9 | 11.6 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 23.0 |
| 2020-21 | PHL | 51 | 31 | 51.3 | 37.7 | 85.9 | 2.2 | 8.4 | 10.6 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 28.5 |
| 2021-22 | PHL | 38 | 33 | 49.9 | 36.6 | 81.1 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 10.8 | 4.4 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 29.1 |
| Total | 298 | 31 | 48.8 | 33.3 | 80.9 | 2.3 | 8.9 | 11.2 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 25.4 | |
