NBA MVP race looks to be wide open in reshuffled league hierarchy

Purely based on talent, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers is a top-five guy in the NBA right now.

But he shows up here on this list because he can’t pass the durability test that is historically important for NBA MVP winners.

Embiid appeared in only 64 regular-season games last season, plagued by a balky knee late in the regular season and spilling into the playoffs, where he missed one game outright and was limited to 30.4 minutes per game overall.

Numbers-wise, Embiid is a legitimate MVP contender, averaging 27.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.9 blocks in 33.7 minutes per game while shooting 48.4 percent overall and 30.0 percent on 4.1 3-point tries per game.

Particularly late in the season and in the playoffs, when his mobility was limited, Embiid went through stretches where he relied heavily on his jump shot, even when it wasn’t dropping. To take a step to the next level as an MVP hopeful, getting more shots in his happy places — inside of 10 feet — would be a good start.

The health factor may not be something Embiid can control. He has played in just 158 of a possible 410 games over his first five NBA seasons, missing the entirety of his first two years under contract.

He is the Bill Walton for this generation in many ways, an uber-talented big man who is the total package … and can’t keep himself on the floor.

Given that Walton beat those odds to win an MVP award in a season during which he played in only 58 games, it’s a fair logical leap to make that Embiid has that same capability, with the one caveat being that it is a different voting audience (media) that he faces than did Walton (his peers).

Given that the 76ers are projected to be a major player in determining who wins the title this season, Embiid is perhaps the one player in the NBA capable of overcoming a low games-played court and still have significant MVP support.