It’s the final weekend before the NBA regular season begins, which means you’re coming here for your fantasy basketball drafts.
Should you draft Joel Embiid this season? Here’s the latest outlook, projections, and rankings for the Philadelphia 76ers Center.
Should You Draft Joel Embiid in Fantasy Basketball?
When Joel Embiid is healthy, he’s one of the most dominant players in fantasy basketball. The problem is that he has played an average of 29 games over the last two seasons, and there are real concerns about whether we’ll ever see the dominant, MVP version of Embiid again. It’s worth noting that Embiid has never played more than 68 games in a single season, so even in his best, most healthy season, he still missed 14 games.
In the 19 games Embiid appeared in last season, he put up 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 3s, .9 blocks, and .7 steals, but he posted career lows from the field (44.4%) and from 3-point range (29.9%). Embiid had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April, but he played in the 76ers’ preseason finale.
The fact that Embiid is injury-prone is built into his draft cost, as he’s going around the 50th pick in most leagues. At the end of the day, whether you draft Embiid will come down to how risk-averse you are. He has an incredibly high ceiling and an incredibly low floor. If you do end up selecting him, make sure you are deep at center because there’s a good chance Embiid will miss games at some point.
Looking for more fantasy basketball outlooks? Head over to our NBA landing page for analysis on 200 players.
What Are Embiid’s Fantasy Basketball Projections This Season?
Based on our proprietary metrics here at PFSN, we project Embiid to score 1,469.8 fantasy points this season, with him averaging 21.4 points per game.
This includes 6.6 field goals per game, 1.1 three-pointers per game, 7.1 free throws per game, 7.7 rebounds per game, 4.3 assists per game, 0.6 steals per game, and 0.6 blocks per game.
Where Does Joel Embiid Rank in the Upcoming Fantasy Basketball Season?
Embiid is ranked 137th overall and 30th at his position. The five players ranked ahead of him overall include Gradey Dick, Brook Lopez, VJ Edgecombe, Kevin Huerter, and Jared McCain.
The five players ranked behind him overall include Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Derik Queen, Tyus Jones, Kyrie Irving, and Anthony Black.
The five players ranked ahead of him at his position include Walker Kessler, Daniel Gafford, Yves Missi, Dereck Lively II, and Lopez.
The five players ranked behind him at his position include Queen, Goga Bitadze, Kyle Filipowski, Mason Plumlee, and Jonas Valančiūnas.
