As 2022-23 NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid has been in so many ways the heart and soul of the Philadelphia 76ers. His availability has been inconsistent. That’s because over the last two seasons he has played just 64 games total. This season, he has only played in six of the team’s first twelve games. Without him, the team’s offensive and defensive strategies would have to change drastically. The real key is to look at how the team adapts when he is available compared to when he’s not.
The best measure of Embiid’s impact is the performance of his teammates. When he plays, Tyrese Maxey continues to be their best player and a potential scoring title candidate. He leads the league at an astounding 33.8 PPG while shooting a phenomenal 48.1%. Maxey’s scoring drops considerably without Embiid in the lineup. He’s limited to only 27.6 points per game while shooting a dismal 41.5% from the floor. This extreme difference helps show how much Embiid’s presence attracts defensive attention which opens things up for his teammates and helps them succeed in scoring roles.
Shifts in Team Dynamics with Embiid
The 76ers’ lineup dynamics shift immensely when Embiid plays versus when he’s hurt. His gravity to opposing defenders opens up so much for teammates, especially in the secondary break and half-court. In addition to Maxey, another of the team’s key rotation players, De’Anthony Melton, struggles when Embiid is out. Both players see a drop in their scoring efficiency and overall contributions in these games.
When the 76ers are without Embiid, Andre Drummond is thrust into a starting role and puts together his own impressive performances. He is averaging 14.0 points per game in TCU’s last four contests. On top of that, he’s tallied 12.3 rebounds per game in Embiid’s absence. This shift gets Drummond crashing the boards with reckless abandon and it completely changes the team’s overall offensive scoring plan. Drummond dominates on the boards and scores with high efficiency, posting an incredible 69.9% true shooting percentage from the floor. His playing style is nothing like Embiid’s.
Kelly Oubre’s performance is another one that shows some small variations with Embiid out. His scoring volume isn’t all that affected, averaging 16.7 PPG with Embiid and just a hair more — 16.8 PPG while the big fella is out. His ability to get things done suffers. His field goal percentage plummets from 51.8% to 47.4%, and he watches his rebounds decrease from 5.3 RPG to 4.8 RPG. Taken together, this trend serves as an illustration of Embiid’s absence affecting individual player performance. Further, it illustrates how it’s crippling the team’s overall impact on both sides of the court.
The Role of Supporting Players
What happens next, though, depends a lot on the supporting cast around Embiid and their ability to hold the weight when he’s not there. Players such as Nicolas Batum have defined themselves as major players when the circumstances are different. On Embiid’s court times, Batum is averaging 17.2 PPG on 42.3% shooting. His incremental contributions allow other playmakers or scorers to help balance the scoring load. His effectiveness is sensitive to who’s on the floor with him.
When Embiid’s status is dubious, Beverley’s status suddenly becomes shifty, always being classified as a game-time decision. This added uncertainty can really muddy the team’s game plan as they’d be switching up their lineup depending on his availability. Without Embiid, the starting backcourt is presented with more scrutiny and pressure to make up for lost production while generating efforts above their current efficiency levels.
Maxey even had a dazzling, season-high-scoring 43 points in a game without Embiid. This performance is definitive proof that he can ascend to the big stage. These performances are the exception and not the rule. That really underscores the difficult task ahead for this team to have any sustained success without Embiid continuing to create offensive production.
The Overall Effects on Team Performance
The ripple effects on the 76ers’ performance when Joel Embiid is out of the lineup are impossible to exaggerate. The team as a whole’s offensive output is badly hurt. Players like Maxey and Melton get exposed on less efficient shot attempts and lose assists. Often, making a shift means that new players need to emerge to play new roles. As a result, their performance can be very irregular on the field.
For starters, the coaching staff needs to retool their game plan on the fly depending on Embiid’s availability. We’ve seen that when he’s on the court, everyone hones in on ways to get the best out of him. All along, other artists are developing their sound inside that framework. In his absence, changes have to be made to account for the absence of those scoring and defensive impacts he provides.
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