France sets deadline for Joel Embiid

Still, Siutat is cautious: “We never communicated anything official about Joel Embiid. There was buzz created from everywhere, and I repeat that I want him to come. However, we made no communication about the fact that he was with us. Today, he is still not with us. We are working on it, we have a firm desire to do it. He knows it. We had the opportunity to discuss it with him and we are awaiting a decision. The American team is very interested in the idea of ​​having him. Cameroon is qualified for the pre-Olympics. It’s a delicate situation for him.” -via EuroHoops.net / September 24, 2023

While Wojnarowski didn’t name any specific players, his ESPN colleague Zach Lowe followed up on Woj’s point by directly mentioning Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and obliquely referencing Sixers center Joel Embiid as well. “Look, not to put it too baldly, but Giannis’ recent comments have changed the landscape of the league, at least a little bit, and have had teams at least have the meeting of, ‘Wait a second, do we need to keep our powder dry if we think we have a one percent, two percent, five percent (chance to acquire him)?’” Lowe said. “And by the way, the Bucks may not to have trade Giannis at all. They may win the title this year, everything’s fine, he signs an extension. But those comments, along with everything going on in Philly, have at least forced you to have the meeting of, ‘Do we need to keep our powder dry?’” -via Hoops Rumors / September 22, 2023

With Giannis Antetokounmpo openly questioning his future with the Milwaukee Bucks, teams have begun to plan for the possibility he becomes available via trade. The futures of Joel Embiid with the Philadelphia 76ers and Luka Doncic with the Dallas Mavericks have created a situation where multiple MVP candidates become available in a trade over the next year. This situation is one of the factors that has also diminished the trade market for Damian Lillard. “What the trade market, the NBA portal, is going to look like next summer,” said Adrian Wojnarowski. “There could be some massive talents available for trades next season. Maybe at the trade deadline. Maybe next year. You have teams weighing the assets they might use to trade for Damian Lillard versus who could be available that ‘we don’t want to be out of the game for some players younger.’ First-team All-NBA type of players who may be in that marketplace.” -via RealGM / September 20, 2023