Max Kellerman drops eye-opening 76ers-Joel Embiid take

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid remains one of the NBA’s most dominant players when healthy, but Max Kellerman believes the franchise should seriously consider moving on from the former MVP despite its championship aspirations.

Speaking on the latest episode of Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul, Kellerman argued that Embiid’s recurring injury concerns make it too difficult for Philadelphia to build long-term continuity, even if the seven-time All-Star remains the team’s best player.

Kellerman acknowledged that a healthy Embiid could prove him wrong by leading the 76ers to a championship but questioned whether the organization can continue relying on that outcome.

“I don’t think the Sixers can keep Embiid. I don’t think the team can keep Embiid because he’s like a victim of his own excellence in the sense that I don’t care how good he’s feeling in the offseason. And look if he stays healthy the whole time, they win the whole thing, he proves me wrong, right? But he’s such a big piece to integrate and have to work around and if he comes back to integrate.”

"I don't think the team can keep Embiid… He is such a big piece to integrate and then have to work around… It's always something else."

Max Kellerman on Joel Embiid and the Sixers

(via "Game Over")pic.twitter.com/QRwygUPxrz

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Kellerman doubled down on his position by pointing to Embiid’s lengthy injury history.

“Every year in his career, it’s always something else. If I’m the Sixers, I’m moving off of Embiid as soon as possible. I wouldn’t let this go by the wayside and by the way, when healthy, he’s the best player on the team. That’s the problem. You just don’t know when he’s going to be healthy.”

Max Kellerman and Rich Paul clash over Joel Embiid’s future with the 76ers

Rich Paul, however, disagreed with Kellerman’s assessment and defended the idea of keeping Embiid as the centerpiece of Philadelphia’s roster. Paul argued that elite centers remain difficult to replace in today’s NBA and that Embiid’s presence creates matchup problems few teams can solve in a playoff series when he is healthy.

The debate comes as the 76ers enter the 2026-27 season with heightened expectations following the additions of LeBron James and several veteran contributors. Philadelphia has assembled one of the league’s most talented rosters around Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown in hopes of ending the franchise’s championship drought.

Whether Embiid can stay healthy throughout the season will likely determine how far the 76ers advance. While Kellerman believes Philadelphia should begin planning for life after its former MVP, Paul’s response reflected the opposite view—that a healthy Embiid remains too valuable to move away from while the team is positioned to contend for an NBA title.

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