Realistic Expectations For Joel Embiid’s Rookie Season

With Joel Embiid presumably healthy heading into his rookie season, what are some realistic expectations for the Philadelphia 76ers big man?

For Philadelphia 76ers fans, the debut of Ben Simmons isn’t the most anticipated event of the 2016-17 season.

Joel Embiid was sidelined the last two years due to foot and back injuries, but he’s now presumably healthy and ready to compete in the NBA.

With all the medical issues he’s had since the end of his lone season in college at Kansas, it was a wonder that he was still picked No. 3 overall in the 2014 draft.

But after watching this, you’ll understand why the 76ers, in desperate need of a franchise savior, couldn’t pass on his level of talent.

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Coming out of high school and later Duke,

was touted as having the best footwork of any big man prospect in the last decade, but that title may actually go to Embiid, who’s drawn a number of

comparisons and for good reason.

At 7 feet, Embiid has game-changing size and length to match his foot speed, quickness and overall skill level.

He hasn’t been playing organized basketball for nearly as long as some of his peers, but he’s been the fastest learner the game has seen in a long time and he’s still only going to get better, provided he can stay on the court for extended periods of time.

Not only can he score around the basket in different ways and finish over either shoulder, he’s also comfortable taking his man off the dribble and shooting the ball from the perimeter.

He’s even been working on extending his range out to the three-point line and he hasn’t played a minute of professional basketball.

Defensively Embiid has great awareness and the lateral quickness to both stay in front of his man be it a big or a guard and help on a drive or cut to the rim.

Not only can he block shots just because of his physical gifts but he’s also great at anticipating and reading the movements of the guy who’s coming at him and knows when to go up for the rejection and when to lay off and avoid the foul.

A lot of times young centers have difficulty avoiding foul trouble because of the speed that players are moving at on offense both coming at them and dishing to a teammate who’s moving too quick to get a clean look at stopping.

Embiid doesn’t bite on pump fakes and he knows when to turn his attention to someone else on a two-on-one or three-on-one fast break.

That kind of defensive ability isn’t typically found in a rookie but Embiid has the talent to be a rim protector and anchor on defense from the start.

He has limitless upside on both ends of the floor despite having been forced to watch from the bench over the last few years. Even though he has the talent to affect the game in a big way down the road, what can we expect from him in his first season?

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Realistically we can’t predict that he’ll put up monster numbers in his first go-round in the NBA.

He’ll likely be limited to around 20-25 minutes per game for the majority of the year and even if he’s playing extraordinarily well, the Sixers will likely want to act cautiously in terms of playing time, given their previous history of letting their own guys take all the time they need to come back as healthy as possible.

Will he have his flashes of absolute brilliance? He certainly will, but don’t expect complete dominance from him this year. Does he have that kind of capability down the road? Without question, provided he makes a full comeback.

But at least in the short term, he’s going to entertain everyone in short spurts with eye-popping highlight plays oozing with superstar potential.

Embiid is as special a talent as any to enter the league since LeBron James back in 2003. There isn’t any certainty regarding his physical condition, but the talent is undeniable.

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Welcome to the league (finally and hopefully), Joel Embiid.