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Kenny Smith agrees with Michael Wilbon when it comes to Joel Embiid

    by Rob Tornoe
    Published 

With injured Sixers phenom Joel Embiid out the rest of the season, the prevailing logic in the league seems to point to teammate Dario Saric as the odds-on-favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award.

But according to TNT basketball analyst Kenny Smith, there is a lot of talk from people in the NBA that despite his limited playing time, Embiid could still end up with the award.

"Based on everything I'm hearing, there is serious considering about Embiid winning the Rookie of the Year award," Smith said during a CBS-Turner press event this past week.

Smith said Embiid would be a shoo-in if he had played 40 games. Even with Embiid's playing time reduced by a minutes restriction and a knee injury, Smith thinks the award might tip in Embiid's favor because in addition to his high level of play, he made his Sixers teammates better.

"When 'The Process' has been working, it really works," Smith said, pointing to the emergence of teammates such as guard T.J. McConnell. "I think Embiid gave a lot of confidence to the other guys on that team, and as a result, they've won some games without him, because their confidence level picked up."

Smith isn't the only one who thinks Embiid has a real chance to take home the Rookie of the Year award. ESPN host Michael Wilbon said on Pardon the Interruption a couple of weeks ago that the Sixers' rising star deserved the honor.

"The problem is nobody has performed up to the level of Rookie of the Year," Wilbon said, pointing out that all the top contenders — Dario Saric, Malcolm Brogdon, Buddy Hield — are players who fill out the rookie class, not top it.

"So I think that yes, [Embiid] is still going to win the rookie of the year with 31 games," Wilbon said.

Embiid has logged just 786 minutes this season, about half the 1,558 minutes Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving that played during the 2011-12 season, the fewest minutes played by a rookie of the year winner in NBA history. Former Sixer Michael Carter-Williams played 2,414 minutes when he won the award for 2013-14.

Playing an average of just 25.4 minutes, Embiid averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots. He'll end the season playing in just 31 of the Sixers' 82 games.

"He was phenomenal in 31 games, though," Smith said.