The NBA is in the midst of resuming the 2019-20 season inside the bubble in Orlando, but that also means that it’s almost award season. The Sixers have a few guys who should be up for awards, but who makes the cut and who doesn’t?
ESPN’s Zach Lowe released his predictions for all three of the All-NBA Teams as well as the All-Defensive and Rookie Teams. Philadelphia has a few options for all three in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid for the All-NBA and Defensive Teams and Matisse Thybulle has a case for one of the All-Rookie Teams.
Lowe has Simmons making the All-NBA Third Team and he has him on the All-Defensive First Team. However, Embiid? He was not selected to either team.
Lowe on Simmons making an All-NBA Team:
Simmons needs a little more love. He’s gotten a lot for his defense, but a 16-8-8 line is pretty damned pleasing in traditional terms. Few players were more reliable.
Lowe on why he left Embiid off and put Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert:
Embiid was the toughest player to evaluate. He is the best in this group. He has the talent to be the best player in the league. He also played in only 44 games, and kinda sulked through half of them. Even that version of Embiid changes the game on defense simply by being there.
Embiid hit 51% on 2s — not great. He still doesn’t make the basic read out of double-teams consistently enough. He’ll get there.
Given all that, the minutes gap between Gobert and Embiid — 800 minutes! — was too big to ignore.
Unfortunately for Embiid, the games missed is something that cannot be ignored. The big fella makes a huge impact, but he did miss a lot of time and that will be used against him in this type of debate.
Lowe on Simmons making the All-Defensive First Team:
Simmons was an iron man guarding every position but center, and can switch there in a pinch. He led the league in steals without gambling. He iced several games with clutch swipes, looking like freaking Deion Sanders closing on corner routes. (Simmons ranked second in deflections.)
As far as Thybulle is concerned, he was not selected for any of the All-Rookie Teams. Unfortunately, this has been a strong rookie class and he is more of a defensive player than a guy who is going to make a big impact on games offensively. [lawrence-related id=35658,35652,35647]