Trust the Process Means Trading Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid is once again playing like one of the best players on the planet. Embiid is performing at an elite level, averaging 25-plus points per game while impacting the game on both ends of the floor. When he’s on the court, he’s a nightmare for other teams, too skilled for bigs, too powerful for smaller defenders, and still capable of taking over games by himself. By any measure, Embiid is once again playing like a Top 5 player in the league.

And that’s exactly what makes this so uncomfortable. The Sixers are stuck in the NBA’s worst place — good enough to make the NBA Playoffs, but never good enough to win an NBA Championship. With the NBA Trade Deadline looming next week, the conversation isn’t about whether Embiid can still dominate. It’s about whether Philadelphia can afford to keep pretending this version of the partnership is going to end differently.

That’s why the Sixers should trade Embiid at next week’s NBA Trade Deadline.

His contract alone should end the debate. Embiid is owed well over $190 million through 2028–29, with annual cap hits north of $55 million and a final season approaching $70 million, all guaranteed.  Every roster decision, every depth signing, every attempt to build around Tyrese Maxey and young talent like VJ Edgecomb is suffocated by the need to protect one fragile asset.

And then there’s the postseason. At some point, patterns stop being unlucky and start being reality. Embiid has never made it through a playoff run healthy enough to carry the Sixers where they need to go. Never. Different seasons, different injuries, same ending. Betting the future on him suddenly holding up is no longer optimism, it’s organizational malpractice. Meanwhile, Maxey’s prime is burning away in real time while the franchise keeps waiting for a miracle that hasn’t shown up yet.

This isn’t about disrespect. It’s about timing.

Embiid’s value will never be higher than it is right now, a Top 5 player on paper with MVP talent and elite production. The longer the Sixers wait, the closer they get to being stuck with the league’s most unmovable contract and no way out. Smart franchises sell stars before the decline, not after the collapse.

Philadelphia once embraced patience. Vision. Long-term thinking. Somewhere along the way, it confused loyalty with fear. If the Sixers actually believe in the philosophy that built this era in the first place, then the move is obvious… even if it enrages the fanbase.

It’s time to once again Trust the Process.

And that means finally admitting the Process with Joel Embiid has run its course.