"From there it just went downhill"- Gilbert Arenas asserts Joel Embiid missed 'window' to win championship with Jimmy Butler

Joel Embiid is still hunting for his first NBA title with the Philadelphia 76ers. He has put in the hard work, turning himself into an MVP player whom the team can build around. Meanwhile, the 76ers' front office is still trying to look for the right assembly of talents to put around the superstar big man.

During this journey to win a title together, the 76ers have paired Embiid with plenty of different stars. They drafted Ben Simmons No. 1 in 2016 and then Markelle Fultz in 2017 in hopes of developing them into the right type of pieces to complement Embiid.

When that did not work out, they traded Simmons for James Harden, but the two have failed to win a championship together. They also acquired Tobias Harris at the prime of his career to help the center, but so far this has not resulted in a Finals appearance.

Early in the 2018-19 season, they traded for a disgruntled Jimmy Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves to provide Joel Embiid with as much star power as possible. However, they lost to the eventual champions the Toronto Raptors through a heartbreaking buzzer-beater in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Butler moved on from the team after that, and according to Gilbert Arenas on his podcast, the 76ers' title chances left with him.

"You lost the window. The window's gone," Arenas said about the 76ers. "The window really was when Jimmy Butler got there and you had Jimmy, you had Embiid, you had Tobias, JJ Redick was still there, you had Ben Simmons."

Arenas detailed how well he thought the roster pieces complemented each other:

"Now, you got a No. 1 option, a half-court great No. 2 option, and then you got Ben Simmons doing his thing. Everybody's tall. Everybody can switch. That was your championship team that you're supposed to build on. From there, it just went downhill, and at this point what are you holding on to?"

That Philadelphia 76ers' roster in 2018-19 was certainly stacked, and one can't help but wonder how different things might have been had Kawhi Leonard missed his iconic game-winner in the playoffs.

---

Joel Embiid could lose another superstar teammate

Joel Embiid has had the pleasure of being paired with some decent All-Star-caliber teammates. Ben Simmons, for example, was a three-time All-Star from 2019-2021 and he was also a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

Jimmy Butler has been an All-Star six times and has proven himself to be a great team leader, leading the Miami Heat to two NBA Finals appearances. However, the best teammate he's had in terms of individual accolades is perhaps James Harden.

Harden is a 10-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA first-team member and was the 2018 MVP. Embiid and Harden have played incredibly well together. However, they have lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals twice, once to Miami and once to the Boston Celtics.

Now, James Harden has requested a trade. It's unclear what kind of package the 76ers will get in return for him, but once the trade happens, Embiid will have lost another great teammate.