Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons shine in the latest NBA GM survey

The Philadelphia 76ers young stars, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, received favorable honors in the latest NBA GM survey.

The latest NBA GM survey showed Philadelphia 76ers fans that they weren’t biased in their praise of how good Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid really are. The NBA GM’s votes resulted in Joel Embiid being the second best center in the league, only behind New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis. Ben Simmons was voted the third best passer in the league behind Chris Paul at No. 2 and LeBron James at No. 1 (John Wall and Rajon Rondo were all tied with Simmons for third at seven percent).

This news comes to no surprise to 76ers fans, but for people who do not follow the Sixers, it opens their eyes to how good both of these two young studs really are. In Simmons and Embiid’s second and third season they are already top-three in Eastern Conference favorites, although I expect them to reach the eastern conference finals.

Simmons’ emergence as an elite talent

After Ben Simmons’ rookie season he is already in the company of future Hall of Famers — LeBron James and Chris Paul — for the league’s best passer. At 6-foot-10, Simmons is Magic Johnson/LeBron-like on the court.

Everyone knows there is something special about the young Aussie. He should be higher than fourth in the most likely to have a breakout season category. Ben Simmons will improve much more than Aaron Gordon, Dejounte Murray, and Lauri Markkanen, who were all tied with Simmons at fourth with seven percent each.

Embiid’s status among the NBA’s best

Joel Embiid being voted the second best center by only seven percent in his first “full” season is absurd. The 76ers’ future is bright and the NBA general managers are very aware. Embiid has only played 94 regular season games and already has the league on fire with his Hakeem-esque footwork and effortless post scoring.

Some say Anthony Davis is a power forward, but for his team, he will be playing center all season long with Nikola Mirotic and Julius Randle handling duties at the four. If AD was considered a power forward, then yes, Embiid would be the best center but that is not the case here.

AD got 40 percent of the votes, Embiid got 33 percent, and Karl-Anthony Towns only had seven percent. So it is obvious who the two men on top are. Joel is close to the top and I think he can get there.

Embiid was sixth in votes for If you were to start an NBA franchise today and could sign any NBA player, who would it be? The NBA is supposed to be heading in a direction away from big men but you have to make exceptions for a generational talent such as Embiid.

Joel Embiid’s numbers prove he is one of the two best centers in the league and he is the best in many categories. Embiid is the best post scoring center in the league and arguably a top-five defender. That is why he is one of the top six guys a general manager would start their team around. He is the most dominant interior scorer we have seen since the great Shaquille O’Neal.

Two categories of the 2018 GM survey regarding Joel Embiid that I did not agree with was who the top defenders and top interior defenders are in the NBA. Joel was not listed on either of them.

Joel Embiid was second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting for the 2017-18 season. His interior shot blocking and shot-altering abilities are near the top of every teams scouting report (don’t forget Robert Covington). He is averaging over two blocks per game in his career.

In summation…

A year from now I see Ben Simmons AND Joel Embiid being in the MVP, defensive player of the year, and all other categories the GM survey includes.

The Philadelphia 76ers will be top-five Finals favorites and top-two Eastern Conference favorites. The Sixers’ two best players are in their second and third season, so there is still so much more to come from the leagues best young core.