Is healthy Zion a better talent than healthy Embiid?

[In SVG We Trust]

The Embiid slander from Raps fans is bizarre to me.

Philly beat the brakes off of the Raps in the playoffs when Embiid was on the floor. His defense was that dominant.

Then the Raps proceeded to quite comfortably take out the Bucks and Warriors.

Raps ended up winning the title, so I don’t get why they’d be insecure about how great/impactful Embiid was in their playoff series.

You mean the guy with 17ppg and 37% ?

[MavfanAus]

Zion's potential is generational. But whether he reaches that generational level of potential is obviously the great unknown.

Regarding Embiid, I'm not going to pick who the better talent is ect. What id like to see more from him is less talk. Dude has so much talent as a modern day big yet talks too much and gets too invested in social media. I mean sure, Shaq talked a lot but he also backed it up. Joel needs to grow up a little. I'd have throught that he'd have matured a little by now but he's still acting like a kid. Could well and truly be a case of another Dwight Howard. All the tools to be great yet sidetracked by outside nuisances

[KungFuJoe]

Give me Zion. I was never a huge fan of Embiid. Too much immaturity upstairs. People seemed to think he was funny or whatever regarding his social media antics back when he was “The Process” but it’s shown to carry over onto the court. Big egos tend to be fragile egos.

Zion has none of that. He’s humble and respectful but still tries to destroy you in the game. Reminds me of Pacquiao to be honest.

[KGtabake]

My only issue with Embiid is his maturity level. Not his health anymore. I don't think he'll ever play again a 70 game season but i happen to believe the same for Zion.
Embiid's brains though is a problem. If you miss 5 games and you come back fat and out of shape, health has nothing to do with it.
Aside from all the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Zion seems grounded despite all the buzz, hopefully he'll remain that way.

[stormi]

The Embiid slander from Raps fans is bizarre to me.

Philly beat the brakes off of the Raps in the playoffs when Embiid was on the floor. His defense was that dominant.

Then the Raps proceeded to quite comfortably take out the Bucks and Warriors.

Raps ended up winning the title, so I don’t get why they’d be insecure about how great/impactful Embiid was in their playoff series.

Jojo was statistically more dominant (on/off wise) during his minutes on the court than Kawhi while battling a disease in his tummy worse than corona. Nobody else did that to the Raptors last year

even in a down 'the world is falling' year where he's been splitting a majority of his minutes with another center for the first time in his career, he's still the best rim protector in the league while averaging ~23ppg

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Give me the best big man in the league over Bobby Portis with more hops

[iggymcfrack]

Embiid’s obviously the better player right now, but if you’re asking who has more potential, who’s the better asset, who you’d rather have for the next 6 years I’m taking Zion for sure. What he’s doing as a rookie matches up with the best rookies ever at 21, 22, 23 years old and he’s only 19. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone but Giannis or Doncic.

[Synciere]

Zion's better because he plays much better off the ball. He doesn't need any plays run for him to be effective so everything happens much more in the flow of the game. Embiid is better now, but Zion is going to be better long term.

[kuclas]

Height generally rules in the nba. Given equal talent. The taller player.

If Zion were closer to 6’8 or 6 9. I’d go with healthy Zion over a healthy 7 foot Embiid.

We are talking purely overall talent with no injury concerns.

We can’t take into account when Embiid is moody/out of shape to blur out decision.

Just look what an out of shape does to Giannis. The minute Embiid leaves to rest. Giannis immediately attacks the rim. He has that type of paint deterrent when he’s on the floor even looking sluggish.

Zion has incredible body control. He’s a big boy. He seems to score at will easily than Embiid who has or use bully ball and lost his footwork. So Zion will be the better offensive player.

[r0drig0lac]

Zion's generational talent. Embiid's just a big guy, he doesn't have anything special about him besides his height.

Besides, what team wants to build around a C in today's NBA. Maybe if this was the 90's, it would be closer.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

There's a difference between "better talent" and who's a better player right now. I think embiid may be pretty close to maxed out...he honestly hasn't gotten much better statisticly since a rookie. Obviously zion has a lot of upside, but the question is how much upside and how often he realizes it. I think a player like this, well he could be a LeBron level of talent but I'm not sure he ever reaches that level or how likely it is.

[bluemj32]

If Joel had Zions motor then I'd take Joel but what I think besides Zions athletic ability and motor is his skill.

He makes those around him better. He can take the ball off the glass start a fast break or offense on his own. And he's only 19

Joel's size defensively also makes him desirable but Joel's desire is not always there.

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[GreatWhiteStiff]

The Embiid slander from Raps fans is bizarre to me.

Philly beat the brakes off of the Raps in the playoffs when Embiid was on the floor. His defense was that dominant.

Then the Raps proceeded to quite comfortably take out the Bucks and Warriors.

Raps ended up winning the title, so I don’t get why they’d be insecure about how great/impactful Embiid was in their playoff series.

Raptors were +6 points in 6 games vs the bucks in a series they won 4-2. A series where the bucks missed a lot of three point and open three point shots. I don't think they won that series comfortably.

I agree with your stance that a lot of raptors fans want to come on and say Embiid isn't that good. That's just kind of how we are with rival teams/players. I'm not sure if that plus minus stuff was all embiid's dominance and not somewhat based on luck though. Likely if they play philly again the on off splits would be closer.

[JRoy]

I will make a bet right now that Zion misses more career games than Embiid even including Embiids first 2 seasons.

[PD28]

Zion's generational talent. Embiid's just a big guy, he doesn't have anything special about him besides his height.

Besides, what team wants to build around a C in today's NBA. Maybe if this was the 90's, it would be closer.

If Embiid is just a big guy and nothing special about him other than height - what makes him better than pretty much every other big man?

[EasternHeretic]

I will make a bet right now that Zion misses more career games than Embiid even including Embiids first 2 seasons.

[BostonCouchGM]

you can't teach maturity and motor. Embid should be a 30-15 guy considering there aren't any bigs that should be able to stop him. But he is a beta on offense and he's not in great shape. He reminds me of Shaq in MIA once he started getting fat and mailed it in. He was still dominant when he wanted but his motor, especially on defense was terrible and injuries and weight killed him. That was somewhat understandable for Shaq as he was 32 y/o, making movies, and had rings. It's indefensible for Embid who hasn't even approached his prime. I take Zion because he has a high BBIQ, doesn't take plays off on either end, can score on all three levels and defend multiple positions. Both have injury concerns that cancel each other out.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

Embiid's just a big guy, he doesn't have anything special about him besides his height.

lol dont know if trolling or serious.

[Hoop Hunter]

Both have serious health concerns for the future. If they both were to stay healthy, I'd take Zion. Of course no one can predict future health.

[NY 567]

Zion doesn't project to be a good defense player or floor spacer. Zion might be a slightly better offensive player, but Embiid is considerably better on D, so I'd go with him. Zion is an interesting player, a 6'6 post player and rim roller in this era is very unusual to say the least, but I still think Embiid is going to be better.

[Snotbubbles]

Embiid’s obviously the better player right now, but if you’re asking who has more potential, who’s the better asset, who you’d rather have for the next 6 years I’m taking Zion for sure. What he’s doing as a rookie matches up with the best rookies ever at 21, 22, 23 years old and he’s only 19. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone but Giannis or Doncic.

He's played 9 games. What exactly is he doing?

I just looked at Embiid's rookie year per 36 and almost every single statistical category favors Embiid.