The Sixer Sense
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Joel Embiid’s effect on and off the court

By Michael Bronson

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 18: LeBron James #23 of Team LeBron battles against Joel Embiid #21 of Team Curry during the NBA All-Star Game as a part of 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend at STAPLES Center on February 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 18: LeBron James #23 of Team LeBron battles against Joel Embiid #21 of Team Curry during the NBA All-Star Game as a part of 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend at STAPLES Center on February 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Joel Embiid is the best player on the Philadelphia 76ers, and the stats do a nice job of highlighting his impact on the court.

After averaging 20.2 points, 2.1 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game while making 36 3-pointers from the center spot in the 31 games he played in his rookie season, it’s not surprising that Joel Embiid became an All-Star starter in his second season.

Now averaging 23.7 points, 3.1 assists, and 11.1 rebounds per game while making 43 3-pointers in 44 games. Watching Embiid play and looking at his stats obviously show a great player, but how a team plays with their best on the court to how they play with them off the court really shows what a truly great player is.

In fact, looking at Embiid’s impact on the Philadelphia 76ers to other star players, a case could be made that Embiid should get serious consideration for the Most Valuable Player award.

The Sixers are 15.7 points better as a team when Embiid is on the court compared to when he’s off the court. A closer look at Embiid’s on/off court product reveals that the Sixers offense scores 9.6 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the court and give up 6.2 less points when he’s off the court.

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So it’s no surprise that the Sixers have three wins and eight losses in the games Embiid did not play in, but it is surprising that Embiid accounts for more points in 100 possessions than the best player on the team with the NBA’s best record.

The Houston Rockets have the best record in the NBA with 44 wins and 13 losses. James Harden leads the NBA in points per game with 31.3 points.

Despite his play and team success, Harden only improves his team by 2.9 points when he’s on the court. Harden’s surprisingly low impact has to do with the Rockets giving up 3.5 more points when he is on the court taking away from the 6.3 more points they score.

It could also be that Chris Paul has been their best player using this meteoric. While Paul assists (9.8 assist per game for his career and 8.3 for this season) are down, his points (19.2 points this season to 18.7 for his career) and rebounds (5.7 rebounds this season to 4.5 rebounds for his career) per game are above his average. But due to the Rockets scoring 6.9 more points on offense and giving up 2.5 less points on defense when he’s on the court, the 9.3 points improvement the Rockets get from Paul on both sides of the court when he’s playing leads the team.

It is still significantly less than Embiid’s production for the Sixers and only a few points better than the 7.1 points Ben Simmons generates over 100 possessions.

Next: Grading every Sixers player thus far

I’m not seriously expecting Embiid to get any votes for MVP this season and I’m not suggesting that he’s currently better than Harden and Paul, but there might not be a player that has more impact on whether team wins or loses in the NBA than Embiid.