Philadelphia 76ers: Comparing Joel Embiid's Preseason to Others

To see how good Joel Embiid‘s preseason really has been for the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s imperative to compare his stats to other preseasons.

On October 4, 2016 the moment Philadelphia 76ers‘ fans have been waiting two years for finally arrived. The third pick of the 2014 NBA draft Joel Embiid played 13 minutes in a preseason game against the Boston Celtics.

This was a moment that I wasn’t sure would ever happen. Every YouTube video showing Embiid making 3-point shots and dunking the ball after putting it through his legs mid air — things I don’t expect to see from a seven feet tall center — showed the All-Star potential that made former general manager Sam Hinkie’s decision to draft an injured center for the second year in a row look wise.

But taking Jahlil Okafor with the third pick of the 2015 draft and Embiid re-injuring his foot before the that draft made me question whether or not we would ever see Embiid play a single game in a Sixers or any team’s uniform.

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After playing in five preseason games, my faith that Embiid can still become the player many people believed he would be before breaking his navicular bone was restored. While preseason stats probably aren’t the best way to predict how good an NBA player’s career will be, it does help show how good Embiid has been when compared to other NBA centers’ first preseason.

Through six games Embiid averaged 10.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.0 block per game. Embiid started the preseason with a 12 minutes per game limit, but that time limit was extended to 18 minutes by the sixth game and he’s averaging 14.1 minutes per game overall.

Comparing Embiid’s stats to Nerlens Noel‘s first preseason before the start of his rookie season, suggest that Embiid should have a significantly better rookie season. Noel played in four games and averaged 30.3 minutes per game. He averaged 8.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, and 2 assists per game. Since Noel played more than twice as many minutes per game than Embiid, it’s likely Embiid would have more rebounds and would have scored twice as many points as Noel if he was given the same amount of playing time. Noel would only have a slight advantage over Embiid in blocks and a big advantage over him in assists, because Embiid is yet to record a single assist.

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Embiid’s stats also looks great compared to Jahlil Okafor‘s preseason stats after he was drafted by the Sixers. Okafor played five preseason games and averaged 20.9 minutes per game. He averaged 10.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.0 block, and 0.2 assists. While I’ve never been a big fan of Okafor and do not see him becoming an NBA superstar, I recognize that Okafor is a good offense player and I’m surprised he only averaged 0.1 points per game more than Embiid with 6.8 more minutes per game. Okafor isn’t a good rebounder so I wasn’t surprised to see Embiid already surpassing him in this skill set, but I was surprise to see how good Embiid’s rebounding compares to the top rebounder last season.

Andre Drummond averaged the most rebounds per game during the 2015-16 season with 14.8. During Drummond’s first preseason after being drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the ninth pick in the 2012 draft, he played in 8 preseason games and averaged 16.5 minutes per game. He averaged 9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 0.2 assists. Embiid averaged only 0.4 rebounds less than the NBA’s current top rebounder with 2.4 minutes less per game.

Must Read: https://thesixersense.com/2015/12/14/philadelphia-76ers-top-20-performances-time/

The Sixers were ranked 25th out of 30 teams for total rebounds per game during the 2015-16 season, so Embiid’s elite rebounding could make a huge difference this season.

Embiid’s first preseason with the Sixers managed to live up to the hype and suggest the Sixers still have a very good chance to win Rookie of the Year for the 2016-17 season, even if Ben Simmons doesn’t play a single game.

Comparing Joel Embiid’s Preseason to Other Centers

By Michael Bronson | Oct 21, 2016

To see how good Joel Embiid‘s preseason really has been for the Philadelphia 76ers, it’s imperative to compare his stats to other preseasons.

More from The Sixer Sense