2024 Team USA Basketball Star Pairings We Want In The NBA | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors

I’ll be honest: the Bam Adebayo-Joel Embiid roster is almost complete, so I could go with the following two duos. But that doesn’t make it any less intriguing.

There will be some redundancies in an offense centered around Adebayo and Embiid. They play different styles, but neither is a caps-lock floor-spacer.

Still, they both possess the skills needed to execute plenty of big pick-and-rolls, and I remain hopeful that Adebayo can continue to deepen his three-point exploration in the future.

Sign me up for their team’s defense. Imagine trying to score with Embiid patrolling the paint and Adebayo acting as a Jaren Jackson Jr.-Giannis Antetokounmpo hybrid, while also getting more one-on-one reps.

Embiid seems less likely to seek a trade now that the Philadelphia 76ers have Paul George and Tyrese Maxey on his side. And that’s a good thing. The Miami Heat don’t exactly have superstar trade assets at their disposal.

It’s a little easier to imagine Adebayo growing frustrated as Jimmy Butler ages. At the same time, he might welcome the chance to move up the pecking order. Embiid’s contract also expires early after Bam’s three-year extension, and the Heat have historically done a good job of positioning themselves around high-risk summers for superstar flights.

Counterargument to the previous counterarguments: Stars generally don’t just leave in free agency anymore (again, shout-out to the Los Angeles Clippers). So it’s still hard to tell which side is more likely to be motivated to change scenery.

Forced to choose, I’d say it should happen in Miami. The Sixers could try to rotate Maxey as Embiid and George age, and this side of the Al Horford-in-Philly era, the Heat are the team that has shown more interest in dual-big setups.