Here’s why the Philadelphia 76ers should trade Joel Embiid
By Matt Cahill
3. He is always trying to improve his game
He was recently quoted as saying that he was working on improving his “guard skills”. There is good reason to believe that Joel wants to become a different player than his bodily gifts seem to favor. He seems strangely enamored with trying to improve his ball handling and 3-point shot. Those things are nice to have in your repertoire, but it makes you wonder if he understands how dominant he is within 15 feet of the rim.
The possessions where he catches the ball inside 15 feet and takes two or less dribbles are the moments that he looks unstoppable — truly a man among boys. The problem is that he prefers to pound the ball into the ground over and over while he slowly decides what to do before settling for a turnaround jumper from 20 feet that misses more often than it hits.
The media, particularly former players, have all said how easily he could be the new Shaquille O’Neal, but Joel seems to want to be Dirk Nowitzki, a wonderful player who did not have half of Joel’s physical gifts. Shooting all those jumpers instead of banging down low feels like the easy, and frankly lazy way out.