Now that he has finally played for the Philadelphia 76ers this season, Joel Embiid got the chance to showcase his talents and prove to everyone that he is worth the wait.
The 7-foot center was forced to miss the past two years after a pair of foot injuries. Completely healthy now, he has impressed a lot of people with his offensive moves and defensive prowess. But according to Bill Simmons of The Ringer, the Boston Celtics already saw the potential from the Kansas product back in 2014 and tried to move up the draft in order to select him.
“The Celtics were trying to trade the sixth pick that year, which ended up being Marcus Smart. They were trying to trade the sixth pick and the Brooklyn pick (17th overall pick) to move up to three to pick Embiid even though he was hurt.”
If things went according to Danny Ainge and company's plan two years ago, it would have been interesting to see how Embiid will fit in to a team that is already geared to make a deep run in the playoffs not just this season but in years to come.
The team might not have pitched to Al Horford last summer as they already would have had the 22-year-old Cameroonian in their lineup. What they would have needed help in is in their guard rotation and would have gone for a marquee name during free agency, like Dwyane Wade, Bradley Beal or DeMar DeRozan.
As it turned out, both teams are currently on separate paths but both in the direction their management projected them to be in now. The Celtics are considered one of the team's to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a run for their money in the Eastern Conference, while the Sixers are looking to fast-track their rebuilding process to reclaim lost glory and bring a winning tradition once again to their storied franchise.
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