Bill Simmons of The Ringer has named the Dallas Mavericks as a plausible landing spot for Philadelphia 76ers center and former NBA MVP Joel Embiid. The prediction came off the back of a three-team deal that sent Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas and gave the Mavericks a usable Traded Player Exception. This is not a confirmed trade push – this is a speculative framing with real financial logic underneath it.
What the Three-Team Trade Actually Unlocked
The deal that moved Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks drew most of the headlines among fans for what it did in Atlanta, with the Mavericks ultimately ending up with Zaccharie Risacher as well. Simmons connected those dots fast.
“The Mavs caught my attention today with the weird 3-way trade where Lu Dort (https://heavy.com/nba/player/luguentz-dort/) ends up in Atlanta,” Simmons said on his podcast Sunday night. “They get Risacher in Dallas, and they use some of their exception for it, which I thought was smart.” That is not a casual take from a casual observer – Simmons has followed this Embiid-to-Dallas thread for some time.
The Embiid Contract Is the Central Problem
Any Embiid trade conversation starts and ends with his extension. The 76ers signed Embiid to a three-year, $187.87 million contract extension with the player option for the 2028-29 season before the 2024-25 season. That structure makes salary matching an enormous challenge for any trade partner.
Dallas would need to assemble a package that absorbs Embiid’s salary while leaving the Mavericks a functional roster. The Traded Player Exception helps in the sense that it exists to bank salary differences for a future trade, but it does not eliminate the broader constraints that still depend on both sides. The probability of a trade happening this offseason is speculative and depends on factors on both sides.
Philadelphia Just Added Jaylen Brown
The 76ers made their own blockbuster move this summer, trading for former NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics. How Embiid and Brown coexist is still an open question, but Philadelphia is clearly building around winning now, not rebuilding. That context makes any near-term Embiid trade even less likely than Simmons’ framing implies.
Embiid has not requested a trade. The 76ers have not explicitly indicated a timeline for any move. What Simmons identified is a positional opportunity – Dallas structured a deal in a way that keeps the door open if circumstances change dramatically. That is meaningfully different from reporting that a trade is imminent.
The Risacher Factor and What Dallas Actually Has
Risacher arrived in Dallas as a secondary piece in a deal focused elsewhere, but Simmons pushed back on the narrative that he is already a bust. “I’m not selling my Risacher stock yet. I thought he was on the wrong team. I still think there’s something there. But it did make me think; I still feel like that’s the Embiid team If it ever happens, it’s Dallas.”
Dallas now has two former No. 1 overall picks with 2025 top pick Cooper Flagg and 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher on the roster.
Fantasy and Betting Implications
For fantasy managers and bettors, the Embiid-to-Dallas scenario is a tier-reset event that does not exist yet – but merits monitoring. An Embiid trade to Dallas would reshape Western Conference title odds dramatically and blow up usage projections for every current Maverick. The trigger to watch is Philadelphia’s playoff performance. Another early exit, and this conversation gets louder fast.
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