Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid is just a different man, man

New Year, new Joel Embiid for the Philadelphia 76ers.

There’s an old saying that ‘when you have a child, everything changes.’ You reevaluate your priorities, change up your habits, and effectively approach life as a different person with a new perspective.

Though the sample size is still fairly small, it’s clear Joel Embiid is a different person now than the player we say take the court for the Philadelphia 76ers back in August. He looks meaner, has all but eliminated the troll-y (his term) social media presence that initially made him such a captivating sports personality, and is just playing with the maturity that one would expect from a franchise-caliber player.

Heck, Embiid even hired a personal chef, which, subjectively speaking, looks like a fine investment thus far.

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Through 10 games, Embiid has averaged 26.6 points and 12.1 rebounds in roughly 32 minutes of action a night. He’s making a career-high 38.7 percent of his career-low 3.1 attempts a game from beyond the arc, all the while averaging a career-low 2.2 personal fouls and a below-career-average 3.2 turnovers. Embiid has also become a noticeably better passer, even if it doesn’t show up on his stat sheet, bailing the rock out of a crowded paint for an open wing look far more frequently than in seasons past.

If the NBA recorded ‘hockey assists’ like the NHL, Embiid would easily have a half dozen each game, all things considered.

Serving as the focal point of Doc Rivers‘ offense, you’ll seldom see a single play where Embiid doesn’t either touch the ball directly or set a screen to initiate the offense. Though he was asked to serve as a picker far too infrequently under Brett Brown – due to a belief that Embiid and Ben Simmons couldn’t perform a pick and roll together for… reasons – Embiid looks like a natural screen setter with an added bonus of being able to drain a basket from anywhere on the court.

There’s a play Rivers likes to run – I wish I could show you, but alas, I can’t – where Embiid sets a screen for Simmons, who drives to the basket before kicking it back out to JoJo for an open 3 beyond the arc. It’s an interesting evolution of a bred and butter offensive look that plays to his players’ strengths and manufactures Embiid a wild open look on the wings if Simmons can’t get an easy two inside.

If Rivers just found a way to use Embiid more effectively, in a sort of ‘Karl-Anthony Towns but on a playoff-bound team’-sort of way, it would surely make the Sixers ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger‘ but that hasn’t been the only development we’ve seen from the still young seven-footer.

No, Embiid’s biggest development has been an uncanny ability to take over an entire quarter and outscore every other player on either team on his own.

Did you happen to catch Embiid’s on-court mastery versus the Miami Heat in their first showdown of the season? Embiid had 20 points and three assists in a little under 10 minutes of action. He finished out that game with 45 points in 39 minutes and was far and away from the best basketball player on the court.

Could Embiid have put the team on his shoulders like that last season? Yeah, probably, but so far this season, it’s happened with a ton more frequency.

Even when Embiid is being a bit rambunctious and purposefully ruffling a few feathers – like his newfound pension for sitting some 20 feet behind the basket instead of with his teammates – it oftentimes comes from a place of trying to do what’s best for his team and his family. Embiid knows that the Sixers can’t win without him, and he’s doing whatever he can both on and off the court to make sure he’s around as often as possible.

That should be lauded.

Next. The Philadelphia 76ers should still trade for Rockets forward P.J. Tucker. dark

As tough as it may be to admit, the Philadelphia 76ers were never going to win a championship as they were constructed last season. Their rotations were uninspired, their ‘offense’ was borderline non-existent, and even with a healthy Joel Embiid, they couldn’t muster a single win against a Boston Celtics squad that was similarly undermanned. But this guy? New Joel Embiid? Yeah, he certainly looks the part of a player worthy of being called ‘the best player on a championship team.’ In a way, Embiid is a lot like the player Daryl Morey compared him to in his opening media availabilities, Hakeem Olajuwon, in that when “The Dream” – or in this case, “The Process” – has the ball, you’d better get out of the way.