Building a Ridiculous 4-Team Trade Offer for Victor Wembanyama
It's time to fire up the Ridiculous NBA Trade Machine. Again.
This time, the subject is incoming potential superstar Victor Wembanyama.
During ESPN's lead-up to the lottery won by the San Antonio Spurs, Adrian Wojnarowski said Wembanyama "may be the greatest prospect in the history of team sports."
The next day, FS1's Chris Broussard said that reaching the level of Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant or Hakeem Olajuwon would be a disappointment. In other words, he expects him to be better than three players recently named among the league's top 75 all time.
Those are absurd expectations, and even if the Spurs aren't quite on board with that level of hype, it makes it hard to imagine them entertaining any kind of offer for the French big man.
Actually, let's just preface the following by saying there's essentially no chance this pick gets dealt.
But...
What if it did?
We've published some ludicrous deals in this space before, but we're upping the ante today.
What would it take to get San Antonio to seriously consider passing on the chance to draft Wembanyama? Let's explore.
The Trade
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After this slide, you'll find attempted justifications for each of the teams involved, but it helps to see all the details of the trade in one glance.
The last obligatory note is that you're free to quibble over any of these details, especially the number of prospects and future picks being moved.
Now, (*deep breath) without further ado:
San Antonio Spurs receive: Joel Embiid (wild, I know), Bradley Beal and a 2025 second-round pick from the Houston Rockets
Philadelphia 76ers receive: No. 1 pick in 2023 (Wembanyama, of course), Keldon Johnson and Doug McDermott (largely salary filler), Jalen Green, a 2025 first-round pick from the Rockets (via Oklahoma City or Boston) and a 2026 second-round pick from the Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards receive: Tobias Harris, Devonte' Graham, Zach Collins, Daishen Nix and a 2025 first-round pick from the San Antonio Spurs
Houston Rockets receive: James Harden, Khem Birch and Johnny Davis
Phew. Let's look into why any of the above would actually do this.
Spurs Land the MVP (and a Running Mate)
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San Antonio Spurs receive: Joel Embiid, Bradley Beal and a 2025 second-round pick from the Houston Rockets
San Antonio Spurs lose: No. 1 pick in 2023, Keldon Johnson, Doug McDermott, Devonte' Graham, Zach Collins, Khem Birch and a 2025 first-round pick
Another nugget from Wojnarowski on lottery night was that he'd been told by some executives that they expect Wembanyama to be the best player in the NBA on both sides of the court by his third year.
If the Spurs trade him, and that sort of development happens, they'd surely be kicking themselves.
But when it comes to the draft, nothing is a sure thing. And replacing much of San Antonio's young core with the reigning MVP and a guard who's averaged 27.6 points over the last four seasons would instantly vault the Spurs into contention.
Legendary coach Gregg Popovich has plenty of experience with a duo consisting of an explosive guard (Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili, take your pick) and a dominant two-way big (Tim Duncan, of course). It's not hard to imagine him maximizing the remaining potential of both Bradley Beal and Joel Embiid.
San Antonio, as an organization, has also displayed plenty of proficiency in preserving and extending the careers of veterans players. It did so with all three of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. And that would be important for both Embiid and Beal, who've struggled with injuries in recent years.
Ultimately, again, there's almost no chance the Spurs would consider surrendering the chance to land Wembanyama. But if they could get 55-60 points, 10-15 rebounds, around 10 assists and a dominant rim protector in exchange for him, they'd at least have to have a meeting to discuss.
76ers Start Over
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Philadelphia 76ers receive: No. 1 pick in 2023, Keldon Johnson, Doug McDermott, Jalen Green, a 2025 first-round pick from the Rockets (via Oklahoma City or Boston) and a 2026 second-round pick from the Washington Wizards
Philadelphia 76ers lose: Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and James Harden
Despite another second-round playoff exit for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, and in spite of the modern trend for stars to play for multiple teams during their careers, there's really no indication he might be on the move.
"As for Joel, he loves Philly," Zach Lowe said on an episode of The Lowe Post. "Philly loves him. He loves being loved in Philly, he understands what that means. I think it would be very very hard for him to follow the Superstar 'I'm really forcing my way out of here' model, but if James [Harden] leaves, you're relying on [Tyrese] Maxey to take a giant leap."
Of course, this deal presupposes Harden picking up his player option as part of the trade. And there's no reason to expect Maxey wouldn't take a leap in the event of Harden leaving. Over the last two postseasons, he's averaged 20.7 points.
But what if that leap came alongside 19-year-old Wembanyama instead of the 29-year-old Embiid?
Giving up the reigning MVP seems absurd, but Wembanyama (again, potentially one of the greatest prospects in the history of the sport), 22-year Maxey, 23-year old Keldon Johnson and 21-year-old Jalen Green would make for a heck of a core for a reboot.
And unloading James Harden and Tobias Harris as part of this deal would give the Sixers exceptionally clean books with a lot more cap flexibility going forward.
Keldon Johnson is the biggest deal coming back to Philadelphia, and he has a declining salary that will end up at $17.5 million in 2026-27. Harden and Harris are set to make around $75 million combined next season (again, assuming Harden would pick up his player option).
Wizards (start To) Start Over
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Washington Wizards receive: Tobias Harris, Devonte' Graham, Zach Collins, Daishen Nix and a 2025 first-round pick from the San Antonio Spurs
Washington Wizards lose: Bradley Beal, Johnny Davis and a 2026 second-round pick
This deal is mostly about the Washington Wizards getting out of the Bradley Beal business. He's under contract through 2026-27, when he has a player option for $57.1 million.
Tobias Harris' contract expires after this coming season. That in itself might make the deal feasible for a Wizards team that doesn't appear anywhere near contention with Beal as its No. 1 option.
Washington fans would certainly want more than one first-round pick for him, but that might be tough to come by, given his contract situation. San Antonio can justify giving one up because it's clearly entering win-now mode with Embiid.
Everything else here is mostly salary filler. Zach Collins and Devonte' Graham are already 25 and 28, respectively. Daishen Nix is only 21, but he's an undrafted player who's averaged 3.7 points over two seasons. They're probably not going to be part of some grand, over-arching rebuild.
This is about getting out of the Beal contract and potentially starting a domino effect. Washington could seemingly acquire more rebuild-ready assets in deals involving Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porziņģis. Given the fact that he's on an expiring deal, the Wizards might even be able to flip Harris.
Rockets Welcome Harden Back
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Houston Rockets receive: James Harden, Khem Birch and Johnny Davis
Houston Rockets lose: Jalen Green, Daishen Nix, a 2025 first-round pick (via Oklahoma City or Brooklyn) and a 2025 second-round pick
James Harden played for the Houston Rockets in the 2020-21 season. Since then, he's forced a trade from them to the Brooklyn Nets, forced a trade from the Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers and is now on the brink of free agency.
According to Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes, Harden is planning to decline his player option in hopes of securing a long-term deal.
Changing course, picking up the option and helping these teams facilitate this massive deal may be a stretch, but it would at least check one potential box.
For months, reporting has linked Harden to a potential Rockets reunion, and this obviously accomplishes that.
Of course, this doesn't send him to an instant contender. Harden will be 34 in August, and multiple performances this postseason suggest he's running out of steam (or at least isn't as explosive as he was when he was last with Houston).
But that description could largely be confined to the minutes he spent with Joel Embiid. During the playoffs, Harden averaged 29.9, 9.0 assists and 4.4 threes per 75 possessions, while shooting 40.5 percent from three when Embiid was off the floor.
When he's the center of a basketball universe, Harden can still look like a dynamic distributor, even if he's more of a battering ram than the slasher he used to be.
And that kind of playmaker can expedite the development of Alperen Şengün, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason.
Yes, this is a step-skipping move that gives up pretty early on Jalen Green, but Houston has already reportedly "addressed the idea" of trading him for a star, according to Yahoo! Sports' Jake Fischer.
And it seems like Harden and the Rockets have been eyeing each other for about as long as he's been gone.
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