The Philadelphia 76ers won their first game in riveting fashion, but that has already been well-documented. Sure, there were a slew of silver linings from that game, but the putrid performance shown by Joel Embiid will most certainly raise some eyebrows and dish out a lot of reasons for elevated concerns in the fanbase.
In his first NBA regular season game since February of last season, Embiid turned in a major downer. He finished the game with just four points, missing eight of his nine shots, and corralling just six rebounds in his 20 minutes of court time. In fact, he played so poorly that Nick Nurse did not even dare to trot him out late to close the game despite the team facing a considerable deficit in the final frame.
Despite facing an inexperienced and undersized Celtics frontcourt, Embiid never looked comfortable doing his thing. He was very tentative on offense, and he was never able to get into his groove. Defensively, he was a half-step slow each time, so much that playing Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona over him quickly looked sensible.
The 76ers will never admit it, but they have got to be concerned with the playing condition of Embiid. Of course, this is perhaps to be expected given his long layoff from NBA basketball, but there is likewise no reason to be sure that he will return to his old form.
Bill Simmons dishes scathing opinion on 76ers star Joel Embiid
During a recent podcast episode, longtime NBA analyst Bill Simmons doubled down on everyone’s general observation and went even further, claiming that he looks basically done, especially since he his bounce is no longer there. According to him, Embiid can no longer jump — something which could be hard to deny.
Embiid’s game has never been one primarily anchored on him leveraging his leaping ability. Admittedly, he is a bit traditional in that regard, although as everyone knows, nothing about his usual production screams pedestrian.
However, if this keeps up, Embiid and the 76ers at large will be even more vulnerable in some critical areas of the game. For example, their already meager rebounding will get even worse. Defensively, their lack of rim protection will only get exacerbated. Those are two key departments which require Embiid to have some bounce in him.
If we’re being blunt and honest, the 76ers are extremely unlikely to get the MVP version of Joel Embiid. That is no longer viable for both him and the team given his waning physical tools. However, there is still a window for the squad to succeed while being propelled by the current iteration of their superstar, although adjustments will have to be made by all parties involved.
But until then, buckle up as the process could get ugly.