Joel Embiid does not look comfortable taking contact right now. That might not be shocking, considering he's slowly working his way back from multiple serious injuries, but it's still not fun for Sixers to watch their one-time MVP be unable to dominate in the post, which is what has made him so special throughout his career.
Embiid looks trepidatious to really assert himself in the paint, presumably because he doesn't want to injure himself further. The PTSD from so many serious leg and knee injuries has to be floating around his mind nonstop. That's a pretty sad reality.
It's also hard to find an easy fix to Embiid's unwillingness to take contact right now. If the Sixers tell him to play like he did five years ago, that really does leave him more vulnerable for injury. But this version of Embiid — who shot 4/21 from the field against the Lakers on Sunday in one of his worst games ever — is not enough of a difference maker to justify him being the Sixers' offensive hub.
In other words, this Joel Embiid is not Joel Embiid.
Joel Embiid is stuck between a rock and hard place
Is there a version of Joel Embiid who can still impact the game for the Sixers without banging down low every possession? Probably. Embiid, despite some atrocious shooting nights this year, remains talented enough to put up numbers even without his generational low-post scoring ability.
In his MVP season, Embiid shot over 51 percent from 10-16 feet. In a small sample size this year, he's at 38 percent. That area might be the key to Embiid contributing while playing a style of basketball that doesn't wear on his body too much.
If Embiid only camps in the midrange and hits a few 15-footers per game, that's obviously not going to be enough. At some point, the Sixers will need him to be comfortable with mixing it up in the restricted area. If he can become a threat in the midrange again, then his inability to dominate in the post right now won't feel as catastrophic. Of course, "just make more jumpshots" is easier said than done. If every player could simply make more shots, then everyone would be making all their shots, all the time. That, if you didn't know, is not happening.
Still, we know he can be great from there. We've seen it before. When he looks comfortable in the midrange, he's at his best — whatever his "best" looks like in 2025-26. This is a different Joel Embiid than we're used to. He'll be forced to rely more heavily on areas of his game that were once an added bonus. Can he find his touch again?