October 17, 2024
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How does Joel Embiid stack up against the other top-flight superstars in the NBA?
The 2024-25 NBA regular season tips off on Tuesday, and with a new year in basketball nearing, the annual rush of player rankings has commenced.
ESPN and The Ringer published rankings of the 100 best players in the NBA this week, while HoopsHype and CBS Sports performed similar exercises last month.
With four sets of rankings in the ether, let's take the temperature of where the Sixers' trio of stars -- Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George -- rank among the league's best:
ESPN: 8 | The Ringer: 5 | HoopsHype: 5 | CBS Sports: 5
ESPN came in on the low end on Embiid, with the former NBA MVP's lengthy injury history and history of shaky playoff availability looming large. There is no question, though, that when Embiid is on the floor, he is as dominant as just about any basketball player alive today.
Embiid's MVP campaign in 2022-23 was historic, and his injuries last season cloud that he was actually playing better at the start of 2023-24. He was the favorite to win another MVP trophy after a decent chunk of the season before a meniscus injury derailed his season.
The next step for Embiid -- and I am not breaking any news here -- is to be healthy in April, May and (hopefully for the Sixers) June, then translate his regular season dominance into an iconic playoff run. It is the only thing not yet on the stacked resume he has put together.
MORE: Embiid's medical update should not set off alarms... yet
ESPN: 19 | The Ringer: 28 | HoopsHype: 15 | CBS Sports: 24
Maxey's fourth-year ascension in 2023-24 was marvelous, earning him his first career All-Star nod and the NBA Most Improved Player Award. Fresh off inking a five-year deal worth more than $200 million to remain in Philadelphia, Maxey enters the upcoming season looking to -- again -- make a leap into a new tier of stardom.
HoopsHype's ranking here seems quite eager -- while The Ringer's is perhaps a bit conservative -- but if Maxey follows the absurd development trajectory he has been on to date, being an All-NBA candidate is very much in play for the Sixers' 23-year-old point guard.
I would have likely had Maxey closer to 25 than 20 if I had crafted a list of my own, but ultimately, Maxey is one of the guys you should simply never bet against.
MORE: Does Tyrese Maxey have yet another leap to make?
ESPN: 21 | The Ringer: 23 | HoopsHype: 27 | CBS Sports: 20
The average ranking on George seems about right. I would expect Maxey to have a stronger season than his new co-star in 2024-25, but I think there is a much greater chance of George becoming the Sixers' second-best player -- ahead of Maxey -- than many appear to believe.
George is 34 years old, but there is something to be said for the stability that comes with a track record as remarkable as his. In addition to being one of the most prolific wing three-point shooters in NBA history, George is a terrific one-on-one bucket-getter. He is truly the total package as a scorer, able to thrive in any role on or off the ball.
Once one of the league's top defensive wings, George has had to scale back his role on that end of the floor as mileage and injuries have piled up. But when the Sixers enter the playoffs, it will very likely be George who will be called upon by head coach Nick Nurse to take on critical defensive assignments.
In reality, this entire thing can be used to bolster the argument of Sixers optimists or Sixers skeptics, depending on how you look at it.
The Sixers have long believed in building around stars, and they now have a consensus top-8 player and two consensus top-30 players. They all can easily coexist from a positional perspective, and their skillsets make them wonderful theoretical on-court fits with one another. In today's NBA, such a trio is incredibly difficult to assemble, but the Sixers have done it.
On the other hand, there is not a single other Sixer who appeared on any of these four lists. They have players on the fringes -- Caleb Martin and Kelly Oubre Jr. come to mind -- but in order to achieve the sort of team success they desire, the Sixers will need Martin, Oubre and other role players to have strong seasons.
MORE: The latest on Paul George's knee
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