12. Joel Embiid
It’s important to remember the scope of these rankings. It’s based on 2019-20 alone — a season in which Embiid has certainly performed below expectations. He has seemed atypically passive and bashful. Rather than grabbing the offense by the neck, he has deferred to lesser talent and made an effort to save himself for the playoffs.
Embiid has made plenty of cryptic comments about “needing to make things work for Ben,” or needing to “just be himself,” but at the end of the day, Embiid has not been himself. And no matter how clunky the fit with Simmons is, it’s on Embiid to command the ball, attack the post, and force defenses to react.
Part of this is also because Simmons has truly closed the gap. Embiid is still the Sixers’ best player — and definitively so — but Simmons has made substantial gains, most notably as a defender. It’s Simmons, not Embiid, who is primed for first team All-Defense honors this season.
When he’s at his best, few players can rival Embiid’s physical dominance. He’s a 7-foot wrecking ball in the post. Double teams flock to him like moths to a lamp at night. Embiid forces defenses into chaos, and he’s gradually getting better at capitalizing on that chaos.
"“When he’s engaged, Joel Embiid shows flashes of Rudy Gobert-level defense and Karl-Anthony Towns-level offense. Though probably a little shy of both comparisons, when combined, Embiid looks like he might be the best center in the game”"
This hasn’t been Embiid’s prime season on defense, but he’s still among the top rim protectors in basketball. He moves his feet better than someone his size has any right to, and his instincts are top-shelf. He engulfs hapless guards who venture too close to the rim, and he can out-muscle just about any center in the league.
Embiid should probably be higher, and my guess is he would if this were a general ranking, and not one based solely on this season. Jayson Tatum (No. 11) and Khris Middleton (No. 10) are wonderful players, but they aren’t better than Embiid. At least not yet.