Embiid's ceiling: Hakeem or Shaq level.

[RexRyan]

Jerome James

[rzzzzz]

not an easy topic for Blazer fans. 3 historic drafts of big men who went down. Hinkie did well to hire Durant's surgeon to apply state of the art tech. scans reveal a complete heal, so the question is more about whether Embiid incurs another break. stress fractures are most common early on.

[RexRyan]

I'm guessing Embiid ends up a little bigger than Draymond Green.

[leoshes]

I see him as Michael Olowokandi.

[Mr. E]

In general when trying to establish the potential of an unproven player it is best to not use two Hall of Fame players as the either/or of the comparison.

Also, what is the margin here? No matter how you may rate one over the other, Hakeem & Shaq are pretty much at the very top of the list when comparing all-time centers.

The guy obviously has a nice skillset on him, and he has strength to back it up. He's not stringy like manute bol or Dikembe mutombo. If he's healthy his ceiling is extremely high, were talking top 10 center talent. He's a freakish specimen similar to Shaq, not just because he's 7'2, but if you've seen footage of him, he's a strong 7'2 that is very mobile for a guy his size. I don't think Shaq/Hakeem comparison is far off in terms of ceiling or potential.

He will be a dominating center if he is healthy.

OK, and if Royce White could have gotten over his fear of flying then he could have been an all-time great as well.

How about instead of making the measuring stick for Embiid two Hall of Famer's like Hakeem & Shaq we just wait a few years and see who Joel Embiid is first. He is playing in a very different era than Hakeem & Shaq and the Center position just isn't about height and size anymore. Will he be able to adapt to the more hybrid offenses that are becoming the norm?

Also, Dikembe Mutumbo was one of the greatest defensive centers of all time. I'm not sure why you would group him with a completely different type of player in Bol.

[Duke4life831]

Physically he has all the tools. But this is not a guy that dominated college ball, he averaged 11 and 8 with his best game being 16 and 13 and his career high in points was 18. Before the injuries it was still not a guarantee that he was going to come close to his ceiling. He was a very raw prospect to begin with. So for all those that are saying if he stays healthy hes a lock to be in the HOF is ridiculous. We have seen plenty of guys with great physical tools that never came close to reaching their potential. Then you add hes a big man with injury history to his feet and back, probably the two worst places to have injury history for a big man. You also add in even Philly came out questioning his maturity and work ethic only like a year ago. You add all these things up and even if he stays healthy from here on out there is not guarantee he turns out any good and add in the injury history you really have no clue. No one has any clue since no one has seen him play competitive ball in close to 2 and a half years. But I can safely say his ceiling is no way Shaq or Hakeem now

[DK-All Day]

Embiid is the best big man prospect since Duncan. Yes, better than KAT. No GM would take Embiid over KAT because if injuries though. If Embiid has a healthy career then he will be an all time center. Health is the key.

People act like Embiid was putting up KAJ numbers in college and was a guy that would dominate straight away in the NBA. He was still raw at Kansas while showing promise as a two-way big.

Hell no do I take a HEALTHY Embiid over Oden, Cousins, Davis or KAT as a prospect and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Sixers fans are in for a rude awakening.

[Duke4life831]

Embiid is the best big man prospect since Duncan. Yes, better than KAT. No GM would take Embiid over KAT because if injuries though. If Embiid has a healthy career then he will be an all time center. Health is the key.

People act like Embiid was putting up KAJ numbers in college and was a guy that would dominate straight away in the NBA. He was still raw at Kansas while showing promise as a two-way big.

Hell no do I take a HEALTHY Embiid over Oden, Cousins, Davis or KAT as a prospect and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Sixers fans are in for a rude awakening.

Ding Ding Ding! We are talking about an extremely raw prospect. He was far far from being sure fire lock to reach his potential even if there were no injuries. Again great physical tools I dont think anyone would argue that, but super raw and far from a sure fire hit

[76thBearCub]

You guys realize this is a troll thread created by a non 6ers fan right.

[SashaTheMachine]

5 pages thus far?


Impressive *Vader voice

[Darth Celtic]

reminds me mostly of Pervis Ellison

Ellison was 6-9 220 pounds. How can you physically comp him to a guy who is 7-2, 270ish pounds, 9-7 wing span? They are totally different things physically.

Pervis was a high pick, who was never healthy and his highly touted career never got off any ground. 1st pick in the draft.

[gom]

You guys realize this is a troll thread created by a non 6ers fan right.

I am so looking forward to Joel Embiid having the last laugh here. Good luck to the 76ers in 2016-17! You guys have suffered enough.

[OrlandoDream]

The mental aspect of the game and staying healthy will be his biggest challenge his rookie year. Its very possible. Guys like Nerlens Noel and even Blake Griffin missed their entire rookie year and still came back strong.

[King Close]

The mental aspect of the game and staying healthy will be his biggest challenge his rookie year. Its very possible. Guys like Nerlens Noel and even Blake Griffin missed their entire rookie year and still came back strong.

But he didn't miss his rookie year, he missed the last part of college ball, and his first 2 years in the NBA. This isn't like he was injured for a season so he's only a year behind.

He was raw in Kansas that flashed HUGE potential, I like Embiid, but reading some of these expectations are extremely high expectations (albeit some are extremely low) for a guy who we're not even sure can play at the NBA level yet, let alone play an NBA game. Which, hopefuly he can and hopefuly he plays at a high level.

[OrlandoDream]

The mental aspect of the game and staying healthy will be his biggest challenge his rookie year. Its very possible. Guys like Nerlens Noel and even Blake Griffin missed their entire rookie year and still came back strong.

But he didn't miss his rookie year, he missed the last part of college ball, and his first 2 years in the NBA. This isn't like he was injured for a season so he's only a year behind.

He was raw in Kansas that flashed HUGE potential, I like Embiid, but reading some of these expectations are extremely high expectations (albeit some are extremely low) for a guy who we're not even sure can play at the NBA level yet, let alone play an NBA game. Which, hopefuly he can and hopefuly he plays at a high level.

Im just giving an example of players that missed big time and still have good careers. Despite his setbacks, he is still just 22 yo. Like I said, the mental aspect of the game will be his biggest challenge. He will either break like Oden or break out like Blake Griffin. I personally hope he breaks out because I like an NBA with dominant big men. Reminds of a time when the game was dominated by the big guys and not 3Pt shooting.

[cycl0nus]

I don't know, something like this?

he's still unproven. hes on a bum wheel and so far, his ceiling his looking like this-
https://www.google.com/search?q=crappy+house+hole+leak&oq=crappy+house+hole+leak&aqs=chrome..69i57j33.9933j0j4&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=uD-HJLBtHCuSXM%3A

[King Close]

The mental aspect of the game and staying healthy will be his biggest challenge his rookie year. Its very possible. Guys like Nerlens Noel and even Blake Griffin missed their entire rookie year and still came back strong.

But he didn't miss his rookie year, he missed the last part of college ball, and his first 2 years in the NBA. This isn't like he was injured for a season so he's only a year behind.

He was raw in Kansas that flashed HUGE potential, I like Embiid, but reading some of these expectations are extremely high expectations (albeit some are extremely low) for a guy who we're not even sure can play at the NBA level yet, let alone play an NBA game. Which, hopefuly he can and hopefuly he plays at a high level.

Im just giving an example of players that missed big time and still have good careers. Despite his setbacks, he is still just 22 yo. Like I said, the mental aspect of the game will be his biggest challenge. He will either break like Oden or break out like Blake Griffin. I personally hope he breaks out because I like an NBA with dominant big men. Reminds of a time when the game was dominated by the big guys and not 3Pt shooting.

That's the thing though, there's never been a player to miss 3 years to injuries, and come back strong (or even at all).

I agree with your dominant big man philosophy aswel. His biggest challenge will more than likely be mental (look back to all the reports about him depressed, not wanting to do therapy, etc), but there's also a strong possibility it's physically, very rarely does a big come back from injuries like this, so it's definitely a tossup for me.

[MalonesElbows]

reminds me mostly of Pervis Ellison

Ellison was 6-9 220 pounds. How can you physically comp him to a guy who is 7-2, 270ish pounds, 9-7 wing span? They are totally different things physically.

Wut? He's 7'0" just like he was when measured at the combine. I like how every team has fans that think their rookies will break the < .01% chance of growing after 18. He does look like he put on 20 lbs of muscle, but so did Oden, and it didn't help.

[Jody Smokz]

I loved Embiid coming out of college and wanted him to fall to LA but the idea that Hakeem and Shaq should be his comparable ceiling is mind boggling. He didn't even look better than the good prospects coming out of college currently in the NBA now. Boogie, AD, KAT and Dwight were all better coming in. Let's chill TF for a bit on the troll threads.

[vxmike]

Who's the last player to miss the first two years after being drafted due to injury and turn out good?

Who's the last player to miss two whole consecutive seasons at any in his career and be good? It's even worse for a young player still developing than an old veteran.