BR released their top 100 players for the 2020-21 season.
Embiid is #13 and comes in #4 among "bigs" behind Giannis, Jokic, and AD. Disrespect seeing Embiid get knocked out of the top 10, but hopefully fuel for him.
Quote
It isn't often a player so dominant has plausible grounds to get much better. Top-15 stars are viewed as finished products—or at least something close to them.
Joel Embiid exists on a different plane, at once among the league's most unstoppable players and without a fully formed peak.
Availability accounts for some of the wiggle room. He may never be the equivalent of a 75-games-per-year player, but what if he's closer to 67 or 70 than 60? Applying his impact across another 10 to 15 games is a harrowing concept—boundlessly so on defense, where he thwarts entire offenses by virtue of putting on a jersey. Opponents saw their share of shots at the rim last season drop by 8.1 percent with Embiid on the floor, the largest swing among any player who logged at least 500 minutes.
But better availability is not the only avenue through which his stock might mushroom. It may actually be the least realistic one. The Philadelphia 76ers cannot afford to push his regular-season limits given his checkered injury history without risking postseason crisis.
This is more about getting more from Embiid in areas he's already exploring. What if he shot closer to league average from three? Or was more efficient, as both a popper and finisher, in pick-and-roll situations? (And what if Philly just generally used him more in the pick-and-roll?) What if he passed more out of post-ups? Or on drives to the basket? These are not unreasonable asks—certainly not after the Sixers have improved the spacing around him. Nor is he incapable of change. His ball protection on post-ups is appreciably better relative to a couple of seasons ago.
Long-term health concerns aside, Embiid is a generational talent, the kind of star on whom you bet everything. That he's reached this level without also unbottling the most complete version of himself is perhaps his most impressive feat of all.
Simmons comes in at #14, just one spot behind Embiid.
Quote
Ben Simmons' place among the league's top stars is too frequently boiled down to what he doesn't do: shoot threes—or, for that matter, take jumpers at all. Yawn.
Dissecting the impact his finite range has on his team is certainly fair game. Ball-dominant stars seldom used as screeners who just shot barely over 33 percent outside the restricted area leave little margin for error when fleshing out the rest of the roster. The floor shrinks exponentially with each other below-average shooter they place beside him—especially during the playoffs.
This cannot be used as a license to diminish everything Simmons brings with him. Accounting for the limitations he places on his team must be done in balance with the value he adds as a playmaker and defender.
Living at the basket has done only so much to crimp the pressure he puts on defenses. They are still inclined to react when he gets moving downhill, and he is a whiz at reaching his spots. The rotations he forces set up looks from distance that wouldn't otherwise exist. Only Luka Doncic and LeBron James assisted on more three-pointers last season, per PBP Stats.
Simmons is virtually unimpeachable at the other end, a positionless disruptor capable of shouldering immense burdens. Among every player who logged at least 1,000 possessions last season, only three posted a higher versatility rating, according to data from BBall Index's Krishna Narsu. And out of everyone who saw at least 1,000 minutes, only two spent more time guarding No. 1 options.
This post was edited by Sixers on Dec 21 2020 04:07pm