"He would prob die playing under Thibs" - NBA fans react to rumors of Knicks nearly trading away future for Joel Embiid before settling on KAT deal

The New York Knicks had one of the busiest offseasons of any team in the NBA last year, looking to build around Jalen Brunson. The Knicks suffered a devastating upset loss versus the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the playoffs last season before bringing in weapons to help overcome the likes of the Boston Celtics.

New York added Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges in two of the biggest trades of the offseason, piecing together assets including Julius Randle, Dante DiVincenzo and eight total draft picks to land both stars in separate deals. According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, it almost wasn't the case.

News broke on Thursday that the Knicks were set out to acquire former NBA MVP Joel Embiid from the Philadelphia 76ers before pivoting to land Bridges and Towns.

“Once upon a time, Philly presumably could have extracted every draft pick that New York possessed before it splurged on trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns," Fischer wrote. "The Knicks were always the rival threat, sources said, that Sixers officials knew was waiting to pounce if Embiid ever reached the trade market.”

Fans reacted to the news in the comment section.

"I'm fine with that as a Sixers fan. You don't trade him to the Knicks, I don't care what you get in return," one fan commented.

"Would've been the worst trade of all time," another fan said.

"The Knicks dodged a huge bullet not trading for Embiid," a fan tweeted.

Here are other fan reactions:

"New York would have been in shambles," a fan said.

"Coach Thibs would run those knees into the ground and he'd play max 10 games," another fan wrote.

"He would prob die playing under Thibs," one fan commented.

Knicks bounce back with win over 76ers

With Joel Embiid sidelined and the Philadelphia 76ers yet to make a decision on his status for the remainder of the season, the New York Knicks defeated Philadelphia on Wednesday. They bounced back after suffering back-to-back blowout losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.

Fueled by a heroic effort from Jalen Brunson, New York, who missed Karl-Anthony Towns, defeated Philadelphia 110-105, snapping its two-game skid. Brunson finished with a game-high 34 points on 8 of 17 shooting, including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.

Brunson added seven assists, three rebounds and a steal and had no trouble getting to the free-throw line, making 15 of 16 attempts.

With the win, New York is 38-20 on the season with just 24 games remaining on its schedule. The Knicks are third the Eastern Conference, 3.5 games behind the Celtics.