KD or Embiid hypothetical

[jasonxxx102]

Man these off-season threads are really starting to go down hill

[gigantes]

Say what you want about Durant's injury concerns or other stuff, but IMO it's neither fair nor accurate to say he's in decline.

On the contrary, he's had two amazing seasons from every measure I know of, coming back from what used to be a career-killing injury. Let's also not forget that his one injury last season was caused by someone barreling in to Bruce Brown, who wound up slamming in to KD's lower legs. Anyone can get injured with shizzle like that.

KD's not immortal of course, and I expect a decline soon enough, but let's be real-- he's still crushing it on the court.

That said, I think whoever picks him up needs to manage his minutes better than he himself did last season. Too many games (and the playoffs), he exhausted himself and became less efficient late-ish in games. For example, he averaged 44mpg a couple months ago against Boston, and it wasn't pretty, shooting-wise. (of course all credit to the Celts for also being an excellent defensive team)

Regular season: 2nd worst PER since 2011. Worst WS/48 since 2011. Tied for 2nd-worst BPM since 2012.
Postseason: Worst PER ever, worst WS/48 ever, worst BPM ever.

All of that when he's struggling to stay on the floor ever since a very serious injury? I think it's absolutely fair to say decline. I mean, it's not like he's fallen off a cliff like Harden or something. He's still one of the top 10 players in the league. But is he just as good as he was before the injury? I don't think so. He got straight up embarrassed by Boston. He couldn't even take one dribble without getting stripped.

He's a year removed from one of his best postseasons of his career...which he put up after his injury.

The fact that he played the best defensive team in the NBA may have had something to do with his poor playoff performance.

Not to mention, I also recall Kyrie underperforming (Ramadan fasting, or whatnot), and the Nets 3rd and 4th best players (Simmons and Harris) not being there at all to help carry the load.

That's on top of Durant playing too many minutes during the RS and during that playoffs, as I pointed out.

Context is everything, and it would have been strange for KD's performance not to have dipped, especially against such a great, switching, long defensive team.

IMO that's a decisively poor sample upon which to make the bold statement that Durant is 'clearly on the decline.'

Edit: fixed a couple mistakes in the first para.

[kuclas]

Everyone thought embiid peaked 2020-2021 season. But he played even better last season after a slow start. He was actually very healthy for most of last season. He missed 9 years due to Covid which is beyond normal injuries.

Sixers just need to get lucky and have embiid healthy for the playoffs. The stars need to align correctly for embiid and his health. But even with a diminished harden. Sixers with an ever improving Maxey embiid and harden can go further than a kd harden Maxey lineup.

[TacoLord]

This is not The Process.

[Raps in 4]

KD is 34. Embiid is 28.

I think the correct answer is obvious.

[NZB2323]

Is this satire? 34 y/o KD is not worth PRIME Embiid.

I guess you guys have more faith in Embiid staying healthy and functional over the next 3-4 years than I do.

I have more faith in Embiid staying healthy than Durant staying healthy. Over the past 3 seasons Embiid has played in 170 games and Durant has played in 90. And 34 year olds tend to get injured more than 28 year olds.

And if we’re talking about the next 3-4 years are you expecting Durant to be healthy and dominant when he’s 38?

[rocketsfan100]

Embiid is the most complete big man on both sides of the ball. Elite on both ends. Incredible offensive player and a lock down post defender. Hell no. I doubt the Sixers would trade him for anyone. Maybe Jokic or Giannis