While opinions can range, most would agree that Joel Embiid has one of (if not) the highest ceilings in the NBA. While that was a near common consensus, most didn’t see him making the leap from star to superstar this early in his career.
Joel Embiid has been phenomenal for the Philadelphia 76ers. While it’s only been 10 games into the young season, he has put up monster averages: nearly 30 points, 12.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game.
If Embiid was to average close to those numbers over a whole season, he would easily be in the MVP discussion.
Last year we saw that Joel Embiid solidified himself as an All-Star in the league, being one of the best players in the NBA. It is without doubt now, that he is becoming a superstar in the league.
So, what has been different with this season’s Joel Embiid compared to the past ones?
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The Sixers have been heavily reliant on Joel Embiid on offense, now more than ever. He has been putting up a career-high 20 field goal attempts per game, and has been aggressive nearly every game.
It’s one thing to put a ball in a players’ hand and tell them to score. It’s a complete different story telling them to score efficiently. Embiid has done just that, shooting just under 49 percent from the field. That’s a huge accomplishment considering the number of shots he is attempting per game.
A huge key to Joel Embiid’s early season success is getting to the foul line. Earlier in the season he expressed that he wanted to play more “bully ball”, and battle it out in the paint. He has done just that, and is nearly shooting 10 free throw attempts a game.
To be exact, he’s shooting 9.9 free throws a game, which leads the NBA by a wide margin (with Anthony Davis in second for most free throw attempts at 9.3).
Joel Embiid has always been good at drawling fouls, but he has taken it to an elite level this season. The huge scoring output has been very efficient considering Embiid is still a “young” player in the league at 24.
Remember that 30 points per game I mentioned above? That’s second in the entire league in scoring, trailing only two-time MVP Stephen Curry.
Obviously scoring is only half of the game when it comes to basketball. You obviously need to be able to defend at a high level to be considered a star, let alone a superstar.
Embiid has always been known as an elite defender and rim protector. He was top-two in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season and made an All-Defensive team. Embiid has been just as essential to the Sixers on defense, as he is on offense.
He has been the Sixers’ anchor on defense for years now, and has been doing his best work for the 2018-19 season.
Embiid has averaged a career high in rebounds, bringing down 10 defensive rebounds and 2.4 offensive rebounds per game (total of 12.4). Joel Embiid is a huge reason that the Sixers rank top five in rebounds per game.
Embiid has been amazing at defending players one-on-one, at times. We’ve seen him matched up on a multitude of talent for long spans, ranging from Jayson Tatum, Andre Drummond, and Blake Griffin. He’s done a very efficient job at defending each one of those talented players.
One of Embiid’s biggest weaknesses of his career was being turnover prone with the ball. This was a huge issue because he would get double teamed a lot due to him being such a force to deal with.
This has been Joel’s biggest area of growth as a player, as he has nearly cut down his turnovers per game by half (last season at 3.7, this season at 2.5). Embiid’s usage rate is very high, so the Sixers can live with him turning over the ball at only 2.5 per game.
Joel Embiid has continued to surprise people over and over in his career. Most believed Joel Embiid would make this jump to becoming a superstar, but most believed it wouldn’t happen this soon.
It’s great to see. If he can keep up the production he has had, don’t be too surprised if you hear his name receive serious consideration when it comes time to vote for MVP.