The Philadelphia 76ers’ season ended abruptly last season after a last-second jumper by the Toronto Raptors’ Kawhi Leonard in the Eastern Conference Semifinals messed up their NBA Finals goals.

Joel Embiid literally cried his heart out after the loss on the Raptors’ home court. That’s why Embiid is focused on leading the Sixers to the 2020 NBA title, which is just one of his many goals.

“[The goal is] winning a championship, obviously,” Embiid said during the Sixers’ media day on Monday. “Championship and more. We have that opportunity. Going into this year, one of the things we gotta focus on is we really want that No. 1 seed. And that's gonna take 60 and over in wins. And I know that team success also helps me when it comes to my goal, Defensive Player of the Year and MVP.”

With his goals set, here are three bold predictions for Embiid entering the 2019-20 season:

3. MVP Finalist

Team success breeds individual success especially for the best players on a team. Embiid is arguably the Sixers’ best player and much of their chances at winning the ultimate prize rests on his shoulders.

He has another opportunity to win the 2019-20 Most Valuable Player award after placing seventh in MVP voting last season. If the Sixers win at least 60 games this season, he’s well on his way to achieving one of his goals.

With one of the most stacked rosters in the league, Embiid knows his team has as good a chance as any to attain the league’s best record at the end of the regular season. Embiid has to stay within his averages of 29.4 points, 14.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in order to vie for the top individual award, however.

But with so many potential MVP candidates this year, Embiid could fall short of his goal. Expect him to be one of the top three candidates, but lose out in the end to either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Anthony Davis.

2. Play 75 games

Embiid has never played more than 70 games in his three-year career. He aims to do that simply because it will give the Sixers the best chance to win 60 games or more.

His history of injuries will be a major concern for the Sixers, who will likely limit his playing time to between 30-35 minutes a game. If they can put teams away early, especially in the less competitive east, coach Brett Brown may be able to save his All-Star center’s body from the nightly rigors of the regular season and keep him fresh for the playoffs.

The reduced playing time will also allow him to play 75 games which will potentially result in more wins for the team.

1. Defensive Player of the Year

Embiid’s chances at winning the Defensive Player of the Year depend largely on his nightly load on the offensive end. If Ben Simmons develops into a 20-point scorer this coming season, it will lessen his scoring burden.

This will free up Embiid to expend more energy on the defensive end. As a rim protector, he is already a disruptor in the mold of reigning DPOY Rudy Gobert.

He has to maintain last season's 11.9 defensive rebounds a night to fuel his DPOY campaign this year, but his 2.0 blocks per game won’t cut it. As a big man, he has to swat at least 2.5 enemy attempts per contest to get voters’ attention.

Ultimately, it will depend on the Sixers’ performance with him on the floor. According to FiveThirtyEight’s new defensive metric called DRAYMOND, Embiid ranked second to the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green when it measured the league’s top defenders' performance since the 2013-14 season.

Additionally, with Embiid on the floor last season, it resulted in the Sixers owning a defensive rating of 104.9. Off the floor, the Sixers had a less than stellar 110.5 defensive rating.

Embiid is clearly a gamechanger defensively. If the Sixers win more than 60 games, expect Embiid to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.