Philadelphia 76ers All-Star big man Joel Embiid says he is frustrated because head coach Brett Brown hasn't been using him right on offense since the Sixers acquired Jimmy Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Embiid has averaged 23.8 points per game in 11 games since the Butler trade while shooting 43.1 percent from the field. The 24-year-old says he's playing on the perimeter too much instead of dominating on the low block.
“I haven’t been myself lately,” said Embiid, via Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I think it’s mainly because of the way I’ve been used, which is I’m being used as a spacer, I guess, a stretch five, which [is why] I’m only shooting [29] percent from three-point range.
“But it seems like the past couple games, like with the way I play, our setup, [Brown] always has me starting on the perimeter … and it just really frustrates me. My body feels great, and it’s just I haven’t been playing well.
“Since the trade, it’s been really down. I tend to get triple-teamed a lot. I was in the flow of the offense. I feel like I’m not any more. There’s not a lot of possessions on the block. I don’t know. We got to figure it out.”
On the season, Joel Embiid is averaging 26.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game, but his numbers have decreased across the board since the Butler trade. That was to be expected, though. Whenever you add a volume scorer, other people's numbers are going to be affected. The main thing is winning and the Sixers have been doing a lot of that since getting Butler.
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