There seems to be no end to the drama surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers and their stars James Harden and Joel Embiid. As Harden continues to miss practices and demand trades, Embiid has been linked to multiple other franchises in a potential trade with the Sixers, including, perhaps most notably, the New York Knicks.

On Thursday, those rumors gained traction with a report from NBA insider Chris Broussard.

“There is scuttlebutt in some corners of the league that Embiid wants to go to New York,” said Broussard on FS1's First Things First. “Now he's not going to come up and say it because he doesn't want the backlash from fans in Philly. But yea, there is scuttlebutt that he has his eye on New York, but look, we always associate the Knicks with all these great players on other teams, so I'm not going to count on that… but Embiid wouldn't lead them to a championship. I'm sorry. He wouldn't.”

Of course, it should be noted that it's an annual tradition that the Knicks somehow get tied into trade rumors with most every marquee player in the league, regardless of their current situation. The Sixers figure to be firmly entrenched beneath the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, and Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference hierarchy, which might lend the slightest bit of credibility to rumors that Joel Embiid could want out, especially considering the ongoing James Harden fiasco.

Still, the Sixers will hope that Embiid's focus is solely on the upcoming 2023-24 season.