So far this NBA season, some of the major headlines have included the continued dominance of the Warriors and Cavs, the spectacular individual performances of Russell Westbrook and James Harden, and the emergence of young superstars. One of the young potential superstars, who due to past injuries, has only played in 13 of his team’s 20 games is Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid. Even though he has been in the league for the past three seasons after being drafted third in the 2014 NBA Draft, this is his first season playing and is showing off a unique brand of basketball, especially for a guy listed at 7 feet and 250 pounds.
What initially drew me to analyze Embiid’s game is when I was looking up the top scorer’s per 36 minutes. (A metric, I feel, compensates for the fact guards generally play more minutes a game than forwards and centers.) About a quarter of the way through the season, Embiid is fourth with 29.1 points per 36 minutes, which is just behind Russell Westbrook (31.4), Anthony Davis (30.5), and DeMarcus Cousins (30.4). This puts Embiid ahead of Steph Curry, Isiah Thomas, DeMar DeRozan, Damian Lillard, and Kevin Durant, who round out the top 10. Even though Embiid has only played half of the minutes as the other players in the top 10, it is still remarkable that he is putting up this quantity of points per the amount of minutes he is playing.
When continuing to analyze this other statistics per 36 minutes, I began to realize that Embiid is scoring in a variety of ways each game. For example, he is averaging 7.7 free throws and 2.2 three pointers. To give you some context, Kevin Durant is averaging 6.3 free throws and 2.2 three pointers. Of players who have played more than 300 minutes this year (roughly half of their team’s possible minutes), Embiid is tied for 51st in three pointers per 36 minutes, and of players labeled centers, he is 2nd behind Brook Lopez. Embiid’s 7.7 free throws per 36 minutes is also 2nd to only Boogie Cousins among all centers.
When looking over these various stats, it is clear that JoJo has a very diverse offensive game due to the fact he is dangerous from 24 feet and in, which is rare of someone playing the center position, one that has historically lived at the low post. In a league that is placing a greater emphasis on scoring efficiently, i.e. free throws and threes, JoJo is showing the promise of becoming the center in this modern age of basketball. Embiid is the type of center coveted by Houston GM Darryl Morey. In fact, one of Morey’s key acquisitions as GM was point guard James Harden, a player known for scoring predominantly from the free throw line and behind the arc. Harden is averaging 8.3 free throws and 2.8 threes per 36 minutes, which is slightly ahead of Embiid in both categories. Along with other younger point guards, Harden has changed the point guard position and has showed how effective a player can be when he scores in an efficient manner.
To eventually be the center of the modern age, Embiid needs to continue this style of play and production for more than 13 games. For a player who has only played organized basketball for a handful of years, he has definitely shown flashes of being a hybrid of Hakeem and Dirk, but these flashes need to become solar flares before we start championing him the center of the future. At this point, there should be optimism in Philadelphia due to the fact this young man is giving these fans hope and shows the potential for a bright future, which going forward, should be spelled: P, R, O, C, E, S, S.
