Minnesota Timberwolves: A comparable future outlook to the 76ers

So…who has a better future?

The Sixers are still the easy answer, but so much hinges on Embiid’s health and development as a young superstar.

While the sky is theoretically the limit for Embiid, Stephen Curry‘s relative shrugging-off of what had been thought to be chronic ankle issues isn’t exactly the same as a big man with knee and foot problems.

Towns, on the other hand, is two years younger and has never been injured, save for his post-car accident concussion and a sore knee at the end of the season this year. There’s already an argument to be made that he’s the better player, and the health concerns more or less hand the edge to Towns.

While the Sixers will have more immediate cap space and an admittedly more attractive franchise to free agents (large market, recent success, more impressive organizational history), they’ll also be replacing nearly all of their minutes from the current season beyond Embiid and Simmons.

With Butler, Harris, and Redick free agents and hardly a bench to speak of, the Sixers will have their work cut out for them.

While the Sixers are clearly the better team at the moment, they’ll need to have a strong offseason — and a healthy Embiid — to hold the edge over the Wolves in the near future. Much hinges on this offseason, and with so many balls up in the air for front office boss Elton Brand, this will be a worthy debate to revisit come September.

If Philadelphia can’t replace the rest of the team’s production around Embiid and Simmons, they’ll be looking back at the Butler and Harris trades with regret come fall.