Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is undoubtedly still an elite big man. The 2023 MVP winner is still one of the top players in the game, when healthy, and can really throw the Sixers on his back when the time calls for it. He was spectacular in Philadelphia's effort to rally from down 3-1 to eliminate the Boston Celtics in Round 1 of the playoffs this past spring.
However, "when healthy" has been the operative phrase when it comes to Embiid. He's, obviously, terrific, but the Sixers rarely see him. He has not played in 40 games in any of the previous three seasons and that is the biggest knock on him despite his elite production--he averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in 38 games in 2025-26.
HoopsHype ranked the top 27 centersheading
into the new season and Embiid comes in ranked No. 9 on the list:
From 2020-21 to 2023-24, a four-season stretch when Embiid was at his peak, the big man averaged 31.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks on 52.2 percent shooting, winning MVP once and finishing second in the vote two other times during that stretch.
However, over the past two seasons, in the 57 regular-season games that Embiid has appeared in, he has averaged just 25.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 0.6 steals and 1.1 blocks on 47.5 percent shooting, looking like the injuries are starting to catch up to him.
If Embiid has good luck health-wise (for once) and plays at least 65 games, he could easily be a Top 5 center in the league in 2026-27, thanks to his ridiculous level of skill at his massive size. But that’s a pretty big if, which is why we ranked him as conservatively as we did for this exercise.
It's totally fair to rank Embiid this low. He has been hampered by injuries and is not as available as the other centers ranked ahead of him. This isn't a knock on his skills and impact, but this is more about the injuries continuing to bother him and slow him down a bit. Anybody who has watched Embiid's career from the beginning can tell that all of the unfortunate ailments he's had to endure are beginning to bother him a bit.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers star Joel Embiid ranked No. 9 center in the league for 2027
