When you start out your career building up a per-minute statistical resume that would make you the best player in NBA history, that tends to get you noticed. But when you do that as the long-promised savior of a franchise that demolished multiple seasons with the express purpose of finding a savior, it’s even easier to get carried away. When it comes to Joel Embiid, it’s always been difficult to keep things in perspective.
A look at Embiid’s per-36 numbers (as of earlier this week) is downright jaw-dropping — 30.6 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.8 blocks. Embiid is shooting a ridiculous 58 percent from three-point range, and while that long-range mark will come down, he’s done enough to establish that shot as a legitimate part of his game. He’d also be sitting among the league leaders in blocks per game if he qualified in minutes. Essentially, he’s fulfilling every wild fantasy one could have about a center in the modern NBA — a rim protector who drags his counterpart 25 feet away from the hoop, with silky post moves to go with it.
Plays like that from a rookie are exhilarating, and one truly has to work hard not to get carried away. It’s heady stuff to think that The Process, the multi-year tank job that ticked off damn near the entire NBA, may have actually produced the franchise-changing superstar it so brazenly coveted (and Ben Simmons hasn’t even played a game yet). That Embiid has taken to calling himself The Process is perfect — he is the living proof that maybe Sam Hinkie was on to something, especially if their commitment to losing gave them the patience to let the big man’s foot heal so he could reach his potential.
Of course, the 76ers have essentially tried to cover Embiid in bubble wrap, limiting him to about 20 minutes per game and holding him out of back-to-backs, but the impact he’s made within those limitations is truly staggering. It’s impossible to say if this treatment is truly preserving his body, but it would be hard to justify a heavy workload for such an important piece when the team is still so far away from contention.
In order to actually become a good team, Philly desperately needs to find backcourt talent. Once they get it — and Embiid has a pick-and-roll partner to truly open up the full possibilities of his game — they could become legit faster than anyone imagined. What’s more, Embiid isn’t even the Sixers’ only exciting rookie (more on that later). There’s a basketball team worth watching in Philadelphia again, and it feels great.
Let’s rank the rest of the rookies!
5. Malcolm Brogdon
Brogdon is exactly the kind of player you’d expect NBA teams to undervalue in the draft: a four-year college player who doesn’t have one dominant skill but impresses with his versatility, a la Draymond Green. Like Green coming out of college, Brogdon’s jumper form needs work, but he already has the ability to move through the defense and find different places to get his shot off. Defensively, he has the length and tenacity to be great, although as a rookie he needs time to fully grasp the Bucks’ scheme. He could very well be a second-round keeper, though.
4. Brandon Ingram
The second overall pick hasn’t found the range on his jumper yet — only 25 percent from three-point range but an encouraging 43 percent from 16 feet back to the arc — but he still looks dynamic with and without the ball.
That’s not even why he’s on this list, though — it’s his defense that’s impressed. As part of the Lakers’ fantastic (so far) second unit, his insane length has proved to be a disruptive force, tipping passes and blocking a couple of shots. He just doesn’t look lost out there, which is a big deal for a 19-year-old. He’s still upsettingly skinny and his technique within the scheme obviously needs time to grow, but once that jumper starts falling, watch out.
3. Domantas Sabonis
Domantas isn’t the 7’3 behemoth his father Arvydas was, but for 80s and 90s hoop nerds, the name Sabonis connotes a dizzying array of around-the-rim finishes and post moves. So far, the younger Domantas has shown some of those post moves, but also something his father never had — a three-point shot. He’s sitting at a lovely 48 percent from behind the arc as of this writing, and Synergy Sports also grades him out as an excellent offensive weapon out of the post so far, creating about 1.3 points per possession from that spot. He’s shown the ability to stay with ball handlers on a pick-and-roll switch, but otherwise he’s been below average on the defensive end.
He’s only 20 though, and being a stretch four is absolutely crucial to the way the Thunder need to play with Russell Westbrook. Heck, even defensive sieve Ryan Anderson has considerable value. If Sabonis can keep up a reasonable percentage, he’ll be a contributor for a long time.
2. Dario Saric
Saric might have been an even bigger x-factor for the Sixers coming into this season than Embiid — players who jump to the NBA from European leagues have historically been tougher to predict, and the fact that he waited a couple of years to come over only added to the mystery. But now that he’s here, he’s showing a wonderfully diverse offensive game, as he showed against Serge Ibaka and the Orlando Magic the other day.
In that one game alone, Saric spotted up for three, attacked a closeout with a drive to the hoop, nailed a step-back jumper, and showed post moves with both hands. He’s tall enough as a power forward to get in people’s way even if he has no technique on that end as of yet, but he and his frontcourt partner Embiid can do some special things together.
1. Embiid
This season’s race for Rookie of the Year seems to be between Embiid and, well, seemingly the rest of the Sixers’ team. The big man’s potential is limitless, and he’s even reportedly trying to trademark “The Process” so he can make his own Shirley Temples. If that doesn’t help you get to the top of the Rookie Watch, I don’t know what will.
