Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid Bar Higher Than Expected

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Dec 14, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) shoots against the Toronto Raptors during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Toronto Raptors won 123.114. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

A Star, a star, shining in the night…

Joel Embiid has brought more than “the goods” to the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s done more than validate the entire “Trust The Process” movement that has brought fans to this point in time.

He’s delivered the keystone to the Philadelphia 76ers. When Ben Simmons faltered with his own foot injury, Joel Embiid was able to step up and shine at the dark thoughts of a season without the top draft pick from the 2016 NBA Draft.

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In fact, he’s done such an incredible job, that few have even noticed the absence of Ben Simmons from this lineup. That’s some incredible debut.

Embiid’s success opens up the many paths before this team. While we’ve discussed the option of some future “Tall Ball” lineup, that is not the only option open to this team. One key to the tall ball option is the compatibility of Embiid at the four with some 76ers center. It’s always a challenge to develop players in unfamiliar positions on the fly, a challenge some wish the team would avoid.

But the presence of Embiid and Simmons allows the team to consider a positionless line-up as well. With Saric, Covington, Bayless, and in some regard Henderson, Stauskas, and Holmes, the 76ers have enough players with multi-positional skillsets who can cause fits among their NBA opponents.

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Joel Embiid was always the key to this team in the eyes of Sam Hinkie. Thankfully so, because even my aging eyes see the image that is forming. A bright future.