Five ways Joel Embiid has taken his game to a whole new level

Thu, Jan 27, 2022
NBA News (AP)

Not only is Joel Embiid playing some of the best basketball of his career, but he's also playing some of the best basketball we've ever seen.

He's third in the league in scoring (29 points per game), he's second in PER, and somewhat miraculously, he has the Ben Simmons-less Sixers just 2.5 games out of first place in the East, with a 28-19 record.

What's more, Embiid seems to be getting better as the season goes on. He's averaging 42.5 points in his past four games and, incredibly, has registered more points than minutes in each of his past five.

What we're seeing from Embiid at age 27 is an all-time great player at the height of his powers.

Which makes this a perfect time to take a look at what I believe to be the five things that make Embiid so special.

1. His two-way dominance

This, to me, is the best way to explain what makes Embiid so unique - and I use that word in its literal sense. There is not another player in the league who's asked to be the foundation of everything his team does on both ends of the floor.

It's not just that Embiid is both a dominant scorer and an imposing defender. It's also that the Sixers are incapable of performing on either end if he isn't playing at the top of his game.

When Embiid plays, the Sixers perform at an elite level on both ends of the floor. When he sits, they're basically the Knicks.

Here's the breakdown, via Cleaning the Glass:

- Offensive rating with Embiid: 115.1, would be second in NBA
- Without Embiid: 109.7, would be 23rd
- Defensive rating with Embiid: 108, would be sixth
- Without Embiid: 111.1, would be 20th

Look around the league and tell me another player who's asked to be this. The closest analogs are Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant, though both have better supporting casts around them.

The fact that conditioning was once an issue for Embiid makes what he's doing this season even more incredible. Clearly, that is no longer a concern.

And speaking of improvements ...

2. He improves every year

Embiid has improved in essentially every facet of the game, both big and small.

There was a time in his career when he couldn't stay on the floor without fouling. Not anymore. He has basically halved his foul rate over the past couple of years. He averaged 5.6 per 100 possessions during the 2019-20 season; this year, he's down to 3.9

There was a time when Embiid was an inconsistent 3-point shooter. This season, he has canned 39% - a career high -of the 5.1 3-point attempts he has launched per game.

When Embiid first came into the league, he was a turnover machine. He was careless with the ball and struggled reading defenses. Opponents felt comfortable doubling him; they knew it was more likely he'd cough the ball up than find the open man.

That's no longer the case. Embiid is averaging a career-low 4.4 turnovers per 100 possessions (as a rookie, that mark was 7.3) and posting a career-high assist mark. Watch the games, and you'll even see him directing traffic from the post and elbow, pointing out to teammates where to stand.

"The game has also slowed down for me. My basketball IQ has vastly improved," Embiid said recently. "It's not just about making plays. This year I've been asked to be everything offensively, defensively, playmaking, so it's also about making sure that everybody's in the right spots."

He takes his conditioning seriously now - he couldn't do all that he does on the floor if he didn't - and has rounded out his game to the point that opponents have no good options for defending him. Go with single coverage, and he'll smoke you. Double, and he'll find the open man.

3. He's now a point center

This falls under the umbrella of Embiid improving every year, but it's such a fun development that it needs its own category.

"That's a big guy out there playing like a guard," Tobias Harris said of Embiid after the Sixers' win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.

Embiid isn't just quarterbacking the offense in the half court. He now often pushes the ball up himself after grabbing defensive boards.

Sometimes he'll go coast to coast and finish (which again, is a huge improvement from years past, when an Embiid fast break was most likely to end up with him trampling a defender and picking up a charge). Sometimes he'll just set up the offense as the point guard.

"It's always been there, but this year, there's more freedom to be able to - whether it's bringing the ball up or pushing in transition, I got more freedom to do that this year than the previous year," Embiid said recently.

"We had someone that was so good in transition that you had to get the ball to him so he could make plays ... and he was so good at it. His absence obviously puts a hole in that category, and that's why I decided to take my game to another level when it comes to that."

4. He's a leader (even if it doesn't come naturally)

One of the cooler - and perhaps more consequential - developments this season has been Embiid embracing his role as team leader. He seems to be a more vocal teammate. He seems to be more willing to hold himself accountable. None of those were strengths of his in the past.

This year, with Simmons gone, you can tell that Embiid decided to take on more responsibility with his teammates. This means offering constructive criticism to young players such as Matisse Thybulle ...

... and Tyrese Maxey.

And it also means calling himself out when needed:

This stuff might seem small, but I don't think it's a coincidence that these changes are coinciding with the best stretch of Embiid's career, one that has helped this Sixers group overachieve.

5. He doesn't need another star

Let's get the caveat out of the way first: The Sixers aren't quite there yet. This team, as currently constituted, no matter what its record, cannot win a title.

That said, if there's one thing Embiid is proving now, it's that he doesn't necessarily need another All-NBA-level running mate to compete for a ring.

Even Sixers boss Daryl Morey - the king of "we need multiple stars to win a title, and if we don't have them, there's no point" - seems to have acknowledged this.

Who knows what will end up happening in Philadelphia? But with the way Embiid is playing, I think the Sixers would have a shot if they beefed up the roster just a bit.

And here's the thing with Embiid: He might be the only player in the league for whom that would be the case.

Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for AP Sports and the author of "Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports." Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.