Cooney: NBA insiders rave about Joel Embiid's upside

T.J. McCONNELL had just hit a spinning baseline jumper at the buzzer to win a game recently against the New York Knicks, giving the Sixers their fourth win in five games (it's now 10 wins in 13 games). As the 6-2 point guard raced around the court trying to determine his course of celebration, Joel Embiid grabbed McConnell around the neck and let out a scream heard 'round the Wells Fargo Center. It was McConnell's time to shine as the crowd reveled in a rare winning pattern, but the focus of the crowd, the fan base, the media and the NBA quickly shifted back to what might be the story of the NBA this season.

While the Rocky-like story of McConnell is a fantastic one, and his game-winner against the Knicks should have been the story of the game, Embiid stole the spotlight. Not consciously, but the fact is that as long as he is on the court, he is the headliner for the Sixers. The fact that he danced with the team's cheerleaders after the game to the delight of the euphoric crowd only added to his lovable status.

The Sixers couldn't have asked for a better centerpiece for this rebuild. His skills, according to just about everyone in the league, will approach superstar level within the next few years. His personality has drawn the attention of other athletes, famous actors, models and political figures. His is a sense of humor that could kill at a comedy club on a weekend and does wonders for the spirit of a locker room when a team is fighting through unimaginable losses, as the Sixers were earlier this season.

He has lifted this organization to heights earlier than expected with his play and everything else that encompasses being Joel Embiid. Players want to play with him. Coaches want to coach him. Opposing coaches and players like watching him play, also, no matter what damage he is imposing.

He is that intriguing, that delightful. That good.

"My thing is, he doesn't even realize it yet, but, down the road, he'll probably be more of a power guy in the league," said one league executive. "Right now he is a wonder finesse player, and he mixes it well with power. But I think in the future he is going to be so powerful and then he'll be able to mix in the finesse stuff. I've been in this league for over 30 years and rarely do you see someone like this kid. There are just so many different aspects to his game that presents problems to opponents.

"He's a two-shoulder player, meaning when bigs play defense against each other, they choose a shoulder and determine a pivot foot and they guard that way. You can't do that against Embiid. He can go either way, off either foot. And the fact that he can hit outside jumpers is incredible. Bigs don't like guarding that. And, like I said, once he really develops his power game and learns the game and learns himself, oh my God, is he going to be good. I don't throw around the word superstar, but he's that – a top-three player in the league down the road, in my mind."

That Embiid is posting the numbers that he is – 19.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 blocks per game – despite being restricted by minutes and inactivity in 14 of the team's 44 games and the fact that he hadn't played in 21/2 seasons before this is simply phenomenal. Factor in his not playing until the age of 16, the rustiness that still is attached to his game and his basically being a basketball novice and the imagination runs without limit.

"When I first saw him when he came over to the United States, prior to Kansas, his size and combination of how he played and where he could go for a guy that had not been playing very long were boundless," said an NBA scout. "Players from that part of the world, you have to be concerned about work ethic, but once he got to Kansas, from what people said and what you could see from him, I knew pretty well that he was unique.

"Where he's at isn't a big surprise, it's just that you don't find guys like that very often, if at all. His size, body, athleticism, just everything you absolutely want in a player. He can play. You can see some bodies like him, but they can't play, not like this kid. Kids that haven't grown up with basketball but soccer, they usually lack a feel. This kid was different. You have to look at ceilings, and I do, my rating has this kid as a potential superstar, franchise player.

"The only thing that worries me is health. You can see what kind of playfulness and personality, that's a big thing with bigs. A lot are playing only because they are big. It's rare to get a big that really loves the game and even rarer when he's not from the United States. Those parameters, that doesn't align. That's why, even in the league where the big man is less than an integral part of the game over the past five years, someone like Embiid with his agility, explosiveness and ability to be a force inside, you have to look at like a young Shaq (O'Neal), a bigger Alonzo (Mourning), much more offensively skilled than Dikembe (Mutombo)."

The Sixers won two games this week without Embiid in the lineup as he recouped from a scary fall in which his left leg bent awkwardly backward last Friday. But they went out and won a game at home against the Clippers after falling behind by 19 in the third quarter, then went to Milwaukee the next night to knock off the Bucks in a close game. Embiid's contribution didn't show in the box score, obviously, but there can be no denying how much more fun the game is for his teammates. And it will probably become even more so as Embiid continues his improvement.

"The first time I saw him play this year, what surprised me was that he didn't show much rust," said another league scout. "He ran the floor, got from one low-post area to another to make a block on defense.

"His reaction time was very good. That shocked me. I thought I'd see a more mechanical-type player. Lord have mercy, he runs the floor. He runs both ways. He's got very good perimeter skills for a guy his size. He's got touch. That short little shot on the corner is something. It rarely hits the rim. His footwork will come and it will come soon, and with that his power will improve."

And as his game grows, so will the adulation here and around the league. Hard to imagine how high Joel Embiid's ceiling really is.

cooneyb@phillynews.com

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog