The Joel Embiid of old is gone. The All-Star that Philadelphia 76ers fans have followed for years has been replaced, and in his stead, a new Embiid has emerged – one that's actually ready to compete for a title. As cheesy as it sounds, it's been the absolute truth this season in more ways than one.
Joel Embiid gets a lot of Shaquille O'Neal comparisons. When you see a hulking center taller than 7-feet at around 300 pounds that can dominate the game while making opposing big men look puny, people see Shaq.
But a quick look at Embiid's career stats and you'll notice something you probably wouldn't have suspected. In his first four seasons in the NBA, the big man had never cracked over 50% shooting from the field. Heck, he never even hit 49%. As a rookie, he managed a relatively pedestrian 46.6% from the field and never did better than 48.4%.
Shaq on the other hand never dipped below 56% for his career. His lowest mark ever was in his rookie season, when he shot 56.2% from the field. In his prime years, he was hovering closer to 60% season after season.
Joel Embiid is living his best life on the court
But this isn't meant to say that Joel Embiid isn't as good as Shaq. That's an entirely different discussion. The point here is that people might not understand (and appreciate, for that matter) the exactly kind of player that Embiid is if he's typecast into a star big man mold that no longer exists in the modern game. Joel Embiid is simply the ideal big man in today's NBA, and fortunately for this Sixers, he's finding the best version of his new and improved self.
The biggest edge Embiid has over Shaq is undoubtedly his free throw shooting. While the Big Diesel was a career 52.7% foul shooter on over nine attempts, the Cameroonian has always shot if above league average. But this year, Embiid has taken it up a notch. Joel leads the entire NBA with a career-high in attempts at 10.7 trips to the line per game. Couple that with the fact that he's also zoomed past his previous high in percentage, going from 80.7% to an elite 85.9%.
It's not just his free throw shooting. He's been way more efficient across the board. Embiid has finally cracked the 50% shooting club, with a clip of 51.3% from the field. Part of that is thanks to his huge leap in three-point percentage, making them at a career-high rate of 37.7%. When your superstar center can shoot at an above average rate from deep, it opens up all kinds of possibilities for your team. Just ask the Denver Nuggets.
Exorcising Embiid's playoff demons
Joel Embiid's gigantic leap in his shooting has raised his efficiency through the roof. But it's done more to open up his game than most people would notice, and this shift will help him immensely in conquering the East this postseason.
Embiid has actually veered much further away from the paint than ever before. While talking heads like Shaq and Charles Barkley would say that when you're a physically imposing threat like Embiid, taking it into the paint at all times is a must. But the fact that Embiid was so paint-dependent throughout his career has made him a much more limited target to stop in in his past playoff runs.
As recently as two seasons ago, Embiid was an absolute paint monster. He shot nearly half of his attempts within less than 5-feet from the basket. That sounds great in theory, but it's held him back in the past. Embiid's post-play has gotten severely hampered in his three postseason appearances, as I noted in a Sixers piece I personally wrote last year:
While Embiid can maintain his dominant post-play during the regular season, it becomes much easier to stop in the playoffs. In 19 post-season games and against 4 different playoff opponents, Joel Embiid has shot just 43% from the field. His points per post up possession drops from his elite regular season average of 1.05 last season, to just 0.84 PPP for his playoff career.
It’s much simpler for teams to game plan against a post-up heavy offense by sending double teams and frequent post denials (as Nick Nurse and the Raptors showed us last playoffs) than it is to stop a free-flowing offense with multiple perimeter creators attacking from different angles.
This is where roster construction has hurt him as well. The Sixers need Ben Simmons on the court, but in pressure situations and with a seven-game series game plan against them, teams aren't going to let Embiid beat them inside. They can entirely sag off of Simmons to keep Embiid suffocated down low.
Joel Embiid's new secret sauce
But this season, Embiid has gone from nearly half his attempts right at the rim, to less than 30%. Of his 899 shot attempts this season, only 268 of them are within 5-feet this time around. That's just 29.8% of his total shots.
Instead, Joel Embiid has made his money from a couple of steps back. He's shooting the most he's ever done from 10-14 feet, and making them at an elite 49.7% from the field. That's better than his actual career field goal percentage. Embiid has become money from mid-range, and it's opened up his game because defenders now have no idea how to stop him. In the past, clogging the paint and doubling off of Ben Simmons was the key. But now with Embiid shooting at an ungodly efficiency, the rest of the league is toast.
Joel Embiid has shown a glimpse of this new playoff persona in three games against the Washington Wizards. He's clearly using just a fraction of his full abilities, but it's been enough to bury the Wiz. Embiid has played just 28 minutes per game and isn't bullying his way to the line like we all know he can. But he's put on an exhibition for his unstoppable new postseason self. Just check the numbers. 29.3 points on 67.4% from the field, 54.5% from three, and 87% from the line is a scary sight.
While Washington doesn't exactly have the most formidable frontline, neither do the Brooklyn Nets. Brook Lopez might have been enough to stop the Embiid of old, but when he's pump faking from mid-range as an elite threat this time around, the Bucks won't stand a chance. Sixers fans just need to sit back and enjoy the show.
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