Sixers mailbag: Will the Sixers trade Joel Embiid and Paul George over the summer?

The Sixers return this week, and so do our weekly mailbags! After a brief hiatus caused by the trade deadline and Super Bowl hysteria, Sixers mailings are back every Tuesday morning. Let's get into your questions, which were collected from my followers on Bluesky.

From @ocaptmyobvious.bsky.social: Are you at the point where the Sixers trade Joel Embiid and Paul George in the offseason? Assuming the front office gives it one more year to see, would you do it next trade deadline if the team is mediocre or worse again?

My short answer: given the enormity of the contracts the Sixers handed to Embiid and George last summer, it will hardly be their choice alone whether those players end up elsewhere. And to be clear, that is not a suggestion that the players themselves will influence the process (which could certainly happen, especially in Embiid's case). In these scenarios, it will be a serious uphill battle for the Sixers to find teams interesting in absorbing those deals.

First, let's discuss George. Here is his remaining contract after this season concludes:

The uncomfortable truth: if the other 29 NBA teams were offered the opportunity to take George for the final three seasons of the four-year, $211 million contract the Sixers inked him to lust summer, it is extremely difficult to imagine more than a few teams even considering discussing taking on that commitment.

Salaries over $50 million are incredibly difficult to trade in today's salary cap environment, though such a transaction is far more doable in the offseason. In the era of aprons, it is going to be nearly impossible to win championships with any sort of albatross contracts on the books. Every dollar is more precious than ever, and unless George shows unexpected signs of renewed off-the-dribble burst, no team has much reason to trust that the nine-time All-Star has star-quality play left at he nears the back half of his 30s. Everyone has been witness to what has taken place this year, and as a result George will not be some sort of sought-after commodity on the trade market.

Embiid's situation is trickier. There are, of course, the vert valid concerns that the former NBA MVP will never be able to suit up regularly again. He is also on the books for more years and dollars than George beyond this season:

But with Embiid, the ceiling is so much higher. For that reason, despite his contract being "worse" on paper and George being a far safer bet to actually play consistently, it is actually slightly easier for me to imagine Embiid generating genuine interest in the trade market. I would unquestionably bet against it; this sort of financial tie to a player with such serious injury concerns is likely a nonstarter for the vast majority of NBA franchises.

To circle back to your original question: I do not think the Sixers will trade Embiid or George this summer, in part because there is no evidence which compels me to believe teams would have interest in acquiring either one.

MORE: Quentin Grimes impressing early; can Embiid, Guerschon Yabusele thrive together?

From @shamus.bsky.social: Will the All-Star Game ever be relevant again?

After what we saw on Sunday, it would be difficult to confidently say yes, though I will never rule out the possibility of the sport's most prolific players being able to put on a classic exhibition. The issue is that those players seem uninterested in doing it right now; the All-Star Game has almost exclusively been uncompetitive for many years now.

The simple fact of the matter is this: the All-Star Game will not become relevant or competitive again unless the best players in the NBA band together and decide it needs to be. So far they have not, and it is understandable to some degree: guys do not want to risk injury by adding an intense game to their schedule.

But what happened on Sunday night was far more significant than the players, whose performances on the court were actually far more compelling this year than they have been in many prior All-Star Games. The bigger issue was the lack of action. Lengthy stoppage after lengthy stoppage prevented the players or fans from finding any sort of rhythm; many of those interruptions were nonsensical.

The NBA is trying to convince its fans that the All-Star Game remains serious business while also trying to make its players treat the night as such. Yet multiple games featured Kevin Hart shouting during the action for the television viewers, in-person audience and players to hear. The championship game was interrupted early on for a bizarre, over-the-top eulogy of sorts given in honor of a television panel that will still exist next season, merely being broadcasted on a different network.

Somehow, the league found improvement in its All-Star Game play this year (the bar is not exactly high, in fairness) while also taking a massive step back. It cannot be blamed on any players this time. These wounds were self-inflicted.

From @76ersbluehens.bsky.social: Is Jared Butler good enough to be the lone backup guard next year? 10 minutes with Jared McCain and 10 with Tyrese Maxey off-ball?

The overarching question — can Butler be a rotation regular in the NBA — is something the Sixers should do their best to conclude over the next two months. This season may not produce much in terms of tangible results, but at least games that may not feel important can serve as chances for the team to collect data on players like Butler with uncertain futures. I would definitely guess that Butler is on next year's team, but being part of its rotation consistently will not be easy.

If Maxey is joined by McCain in the starting five — this is what I would do next season, but there is a valid case to be made against it — Butler's path to minutes is a bit easier to find. If McCain comes off the bench, it is difficult to envision Sixers head coach Nick Nurse not using McCain as his primary ball-handler when Maxey is off the floor (of course, Maxey and McCain will share the floor plenty regardless of whether or not McCain starts).

In order to crack the Sixers' rotation when McCain is on the floor, Butler will need to prove that his ball-handling, drive-and-kick game and organization skills are more valuable than another player's wing presence. The good news for the 24-year-old: Nurse has always preferred stacking lineups with as much ball-handling as possible, giving him more options offensively. Nurse's love for going to zone defenses while using units featuring multiple point guards has been on display all season.

The biggest obstacle in Butler's way will be this: when the Baylor product is on the floor, his only natural role is as the primary ball-handler, but the Sixers already have two guards far more skilled and dynamic who are certain to eat up much larger shares of the team's on-ball duties. But for Nurse, no number of steady ball-handlers will ever be enough, so it is far from inconceivable that Butler plays on a nightly basis next season if he proves over the next two months that he is deserving of such a spot.

If I had to guess what Butler's role will be when next season begins, it would be the first guard out of the regular rotation who can replace not just Maxey or McCain if either player misses a game, but can fill in for any injured perimeter player and slide the Sixers into a smaller rotation which emphasizes offensive versatility and allows Nurse to utilize Maxey and McCain, two lethal off-ball players, in a way he has not always been able to weaponize them.

SIXERS PLAYER GRADES AT ALL-STAR BREAK

McCain, more young players | Guerschon Yabusele, other role players | "The Big Three"

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