Is Joel Embiid back?

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily – Jan 23, 2026

Episode Theme:
Is Joel Embiid back? Dave DuFour, Esfandiar "S" Baraheni, and guest Tony Jones dissect Embiid’s impact in the Sixers’ overtime win against the Rockets, talk chess moves for Philadelphia, and take the NBA’s pulse, from surging Clippers to spiraling Warriors.

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Episode Highlights

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1. Setting the Scene: Rivalry Week and NBA Catch-up

• Hosts: Dave DuFour (B), Esfandiar "S" Baraheni (C)
• [02:11–03:47]
  • NBA Rivalry Week is more marketing than substance this year.
    • "Rivalry week is kind of not that great. Right." (B, 02:17)
    • Clippers-Lakers still draws more Lakers fans to the Clippers’ home.
    • Oklahoma City/Spurs considered a rivalry, but dynamic is off due to differing team trajectories.
  • Division importance and East/West playoff implications are debated.
    • "The Suns, currently the six seed in the West, would be the two seed in the East." (B, 03:09)

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2. The Clippers Surge & Lakers Rivalry Recap

• [04:03–07:09]
  • Clippers’ recent form: 8-2 in last 10, surging up standings.
  • Kawhi Leonard’s return:
    • Looked "like Kawhi" on minutes restriction (25 min), team cautious due to injury history.
    • "I kind of want to see how he incorporates himself within this offense... all of January the Clippers have been a top 10 offense." (C, 05:10)
  • Lakers’ comeback: Third/fourth quarter run behind LeBron/Luka.
    • "Crazy moments from LeBron James, the coast to coast dunks, the athleticism." (C, 04:45)
  • Supporting cast rise: Kobe Sanders, John Collins (shooting surge), Zubac/Harden pick-and-roll.
    • "John Collins is playing some really, really good basketball, especially offensively over the last month." (C, 06:08)
  • Deadline moves expected: Expiring contracts (Collins), Bojan Bogdanovic mentioned.
    • "I expect that they’re going to make a move or two at the deadline." (B, 06:25)

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3. Warriors’ Troubles Deepen: Loss to Mavericks

• [07:09–12:15]
  • Warriors lose to Mavericks 123–115: Not just the loss, but how they lost.
  • Injuries mounting: Jimmy Butler out for year, Kaminga (recent bright spot) suffers knee scare.
    • "It just feels like... this might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back." (B, 07:58)
  • Draymond Green’s meltdown:
    • 4 fouls and a flagrant in 3 minutes, precipitates 11–0 Mavericks run (from 102–101), essentially ends the game.
    • "Draymond tanked this game for the Warriors last night." (B, 08:34)
    • "Have you ever seen anybody commit four fouls and one flagrant foul in three minutes?" (C, 08:42)
  • Curry’s gallant effort can’t save team. Draymond’s privileged relationship with refs discussed.
    • "It’s insane what Draymond gets away with when it comes to talking to the officials... Luka Doncic is a close second." (C & B, 09:56–10:22)
  • Speculation: Should the Warriors tank? With core issues and injuries mounting, tanking suggested.
    • "What if the Warriors just tank this year?" (C, 11:08)
    • "If the playoffs start today, you’re the 8th seed." (B, 11:12)
  • Wistful for Curry on a better team. "It’d be great to see Steph playing just on a better team." (B, 12:15)

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4. Sixers-Rockets Overtime Thriller & Embiid Analysis

Guest: Tony Jones (D)

• [15:31–34:36]

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A. Controversial Goaltending Call That Wasn’t

• [15:31–19:03]
  • Missed goaltending leads to overtime instead of a Sixers win in regulation.
    • "It was a clear goaltend. It was really obvious. It's not a call that should have been missed in real time." (D, 16:10)
  • Tony Jones: Officials also botched timeout timing, denying Philly a possible game-winner and giving Houston an unintended edge.
    • "Philly won that impending scramble, and had there not been a whistle, VJ Edgecombe would have had a wide open three." (D, 16:36)
  • NBA’s communication tech (headsets) scrutinized for not preventing the error.

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B. Joel Embiid’s Night: Big Triple-Double, Bigger Signs

• [19:03–24:27]
  • Embiid’s line: 46 min, 32 pts, 15 rebs (season high), 10 ast, 2 blk — first triple double of year.
    • "The 15 [rebounds] is the most impactful number because he hasn’t been rebounding this year... so, you know, the fact that he got 15, I believe this is a season high." (D, 19:53)
  • Locker room moment:
    • Embiid jokes about January 22nd being so special (70-pt game in 2024, triple double this year) he might try to time a child’s birth for that date.
      • "He said that he and his wife are probably going to try to time a kid to be born on January 22nd." (D, 21:17)
  • Rebounding is the biggest positive trend—signals improving health.
  • Embiid’s own comments on frustration with review system not being used despite clear mechanisms.

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C. Sixers’ Offense: Maxey Partnership, Rookie Usage

• [22:14–24:27]
  • Tyrese Maxey: 36 pts; their two-man game remains unselfish.
  • VJ Edgecombe’s (rookie) limited usage when Embiid & Maxey dominate; still praised for dynamic potential.
    • "I do think that VJ’s so dynamic that I think that they need to figure out a way to keep him busy." (D, 23:33)
  • Kelly Oubre’s energy and willingness compared favorably as a lesson for VJ.

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D. Embiid’s Status: How “Back” Is He?

• [24:27–26:20]
  • "I think Joel’s back to an all-star level right now for sure... Those just aren’t pedestrian numbers. Not everybody can just put those up." (D, 24:27)
  • Defense is the real question (mobility/lateral quicks), not scoring.
    • "At his peak, I thought he was the second best defensive center in the league. Behind Rudy Gobert." (D, 25:05)
  • Rockets tried to exploit his mobility by running screens with Jabari Smith instead of Sengun; Nurse’s scheme praised for tactical adjustments.

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E. Trade Deadline & Rotation Moves for Philly

• [26:20–30:20]
  • Expect the Sixers to convert two-way contracts (Barlow, Jabari Walker).
    • "Dominic Barlow is their sixth best player." (D, 27:17)
  • Philly’s strengths: Maxey’s leap, Oubre’s scoring, Embiid near-MVP form, Edgecombe’s promise.
  • When asked: "What do you say to that?" — "I would probably say the Sixers have a chance to win the championship is what I would say at the start of the season." (C, 28:51)
  • Both big and small moves possible:
    • Small move: Keon Ellis from Sac for defense & shooting.
      • "I’m calling Sacramento, and I’m offering a couple seconds for Keon Ellis." (D, 29:18)
    • Swing: Ask New Orleans about Trey Murphy.
    • No interest in dealing Paul George or Oubre with current lineup success.

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F. Sixers Playoff Outlook: Who Can They Beat?

• [32:00–34:20]
  • Not an "82-game" team, but built for a 16-game postseason run.
    • "I don’t think this is an 82 game roster. I think this is a 16 game roster." (D, 32:00)
  • Bad matchup vs. Detroit & Cleveland; good vs. Knicks, Raptors; Boston a toss-up.
  • Regular season finish crucial: need to finish 4th/5th seed for ideal matchups.
    • "You want to avoid Detroit, you want to avoid Boston in the first round... You do want to play the Raptors." (D & B, 34:08–34:18)
  • "The difference with the Houston game last night is that that was a playoff-play game... a half court game." (D, 33:15)
  • Season could hinge on health management and playoff seeding.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Embarrassing missed call:

  • "It was a clear goaltend. It was really obvious... Should not have been missed in real time." – Tony Jones (D), 16:10

• Embiid’s playful locker room:

  • "He said that he and his wife are probably going to try to time a kid to be born on January 22nd." – Tony Jones (D), 21:17

• Defining Embiid’s resurgence:

  • "I think Joel’s back to an all-star level right now for sure... The question for me isn’t offensively for him, it’s defensively." – Tony Jones (D), 24:27

• On Sixers’ real chance:

  • "I would probably say the Sixers have a chance to win the championship is what I would say at the start of the season." – S (C), 28:51

• On Paul George’s fit:

  • "He’s better at being Tobias Harris than Tobias Harris." – Tony Jones (D), 31:28

• On team construction:

  • "I don’t think this is an 82 game roster. I think this is a 16 game roster." – Tony Jones (D), 32:00

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Timestamps to Key Segments

| Segment | Start | |-------------------------------------|----------| | Clippers-Lakers rivalry/Clips surge | 04:03 | | Warriors woes/Draymond meltdown | 07:09 | | Sixers-Rockets OT, goaltend drama | 15:31 | | Embiid’s triple-double & health | 19:03 | | Sixers’ deadline/rotation moves | 26:20 | | Sixers playoff matchups/outlook | 32:00 |

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Tone & Style

• Analytical, witty, conversational banter between hosts.
• Nuanced, expert NBA breakdown – from tactics to locker-room levity.
• Tony Jones adds both insight and humor, especially on Embiid’s off-court musings and the Sixers’ playoff calculus.

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Takeaway

Is Joel Embiid back?
This episode details an emphatic yes—on offense and glass—but with defensive mobility still in question. The Sixers’ identity is forming around Embiid, the Maxey dynamic, and shrewd coaching. With the East wide open, patience, health, and perhaps a subtle roster tweak could vault Philly deep. Elsewhere, the Warriors wobble and the Clippers quietly regroup—making the NBA’s playoff picture as unpredictable as ever.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[C]

Morning, man. Yeah, always good. Great night in the NBA again.

[B]

A little bit of a scare, let's be honest here. Rivalry week is kind of not that great. Right.

[C]

It's, it's a marketing thing.

[B]

Sure. I mean we, what do we have? We had the Oklahoma City Thunder versus the Milwaukee Bucks. Yep.

[C]

The other night, the Charlotte Hornets versus the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Which is just for the, you know.

[B]

We got Hornets magic. That is actually a rivalry. Right. Yeah. You know any of the newer expansion teams. Yeah. You came in around the same time, you know, only a few years apart.

[C]

I can't think of classic Hornets magic games. I'm sorry.

[B]

Well, no, but, but it's funny because they played. They've probably played more inconsequential games against each other than maybe two, any two other franchises in the league. Right.

[C]

You know what it is? They gotta, they gotta make divisions matter more. That's the thing.

[B]

Like maybe they need to wait it. But then. Yeah, then the problem is just like this east west thing where you get an east team. I mean, the Phoenix Suns, currently the six seed in the West. They would be the two seed in the East. Right. I think if anything, you want to get rid of that and go to a more balanced schedule. The truth is, I think that the, the individual rivalries is where they try to go.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

When you don't have a natural one, you know, like Chicago, Milwaukee, that's a rivalry.

[C]

Great. I think the, the only thing that's closest to a rivalry that we have right now is OKC San Antonio. And can you even call it a rivalry when one of them is a champion and one of them has not been?

[B]

One of them has games to one this season. I know, right? One of them's on the way up, the other the champ, the old champ, falling down. I get what you mean. Now, we did get a rivalry game last night between the Lakers and the Clippers, and let's just start there. Clippers get the win.

[C]

Lakers fans will be mad. You call that a live rivalry, by the way?

[B]

I agree with that. I'm actually going to get there because this game was at Intuit Dome, Steve Ballmer sitting courtside. And as it sounds like a Lakers home game in there, I mean, we've, we can pick on the Clippers all we want for certain things. This one's just something they're never going to get past. They're never going to.

[C]

They leave the city, the state of California.

[B]

Right. Take them to Seattle. Right. Like Palmer, Microsoft guy, anyway. But The Clippers, they're 8 and 2 now in their last 10. They hold off the Lakers, who actually went on a great run in the second half, you know, the third quarter, beginning of the fourth quarter of this game, which was the most entertaining portion.

[C]

What, you know, crazy moments from LeBron James, the Coast coast dunks, the athleticism.

[B]

What you expect, Luca hitting ridiculous fadeaway threes. I mean, it. The Lakers, they put together everything there in that comeback. Jared Vanderbilt, you know, cutting off of Luca and LeBron like making plays happen, but the Clippers were able to hold on. Kawhi Leonard came back last night after missing a couple games. What'd you think about how Kawhi looked?

[C]

Yeah, Kawhi looked like Kawhi. Obviously they, they were kind of cautious with putting him out there minutes restriction wise he Only 25 minutes. It's sort of expected for a guy who obviously has a bunch of lower body injury history. I, I kind of want to see how he incorporates himself within this offense because at the end of the day, all of January the Clippers have been a top 10 offense. Now part of that has been with Kawhi. Right. So it's important to mention that. But I think overall like this team is clearly surging. You know, they've got themselves to a plain spot already. This is a team that started the year, you know, six and whatever.

[B]

This was a play in preview last night. I mean is this the way I looked at it? Yeah. And if I, if I'm the Clippers, do I even care if I play at home for that play in game? You know, it doesn't, doesn't really matter all that much.

[C]

Yeah, the wall. I couldn't hear the wall, man.

[B]

No, the, the Lakers fans completely negated the wall. I, that was something else to, to.

[C]

The point about the Clippers though I will say I think they do have and we've talked about this over the last couple weeks, but they have some found money with their rotation players and Kobe Sanders and Jor. And on top of that, John Collins is playing some really, really good basketball, especially offensively over the last month. Like the shooting has popped from him in a major way.

[B]

So Brook Lopez bounced back quite a bit from, from getting DNP'd, I will say in this game last night, James Harden and the, and the starters that were not Kawhi were excellent. Kawhi on the bench struggled. That was kind of where the Lakers really triggered their comeback. But you know that's going to happen time to time. Clippers though, I mean again playing team, I expect that they're going to make a move or two at the deadline. John Collins is a guy with a contract that you know is expiring that could maybe net them a player. Bon Bogdanovich, who we. We've talked about quite a bit as being a guy who's probably getting moved at the deadline. But Clippers, now we got to start paying attention to them because yeah, they.

[C]

Probably weren't as bad as they started out the season.

[B]

Yeah, definitely.

[C]

And now they're sort of course correcting.

[B]

Right. Well, Zubash bouncing back has been really big for him. The Harden Zubot pick and roll combos has been huge. Not bouncing back. The Golden State warriors, they. They lost to the Mavericks. 123, 115 last night. But as it's not the loss, it's the way that they lost. You know, they're now going to be without Jimmy Butler for the rest of the season and, you know, part of next year. Jonathan Kaminga was a bright spot, actually. Yeah, the last couple games. You know, he 21 off the bench the other day. He had 10 points in the first nine minutes of the game or plus 18 tonight. His first nine minutes played. Yeah. But landed awkwardly or took off awkwardly on a layup and stepped on a defender's foot. And it seems like he has a knee injury now. So we're kind of going to hold our breath and see if Jonathan Kuminga, who was going to be bailing the warriors out potentially for the rest of the season, whether he's going to miss any time. And it just feels like this, this might be the straw that breaks the camel's back. But there was a moment in this game that broke them for the game. And, And I don't know how, if you're the warriors, you think you can go forward with what you've got. Draymond Green tanked this game for the warriors last night. He. He committed a flagrant foul and the Mavericks. The game was 102, 101. When he did that, Mavericks had a one point lead. The Mavericks proceeded to go on an 110 run. The game is over. After that, he completely. Draymond, took the warriors out of their rhythm and they never found it again. Yeah.

[C]

Have you ever seen anybody commit four fouls and one flagrant foul in three minutes of basketball?

[B]

I'll be honest here. I thought I had missed something and Steph Curry had tweaked his ankle and was out of the game. And Draymond was just doing the thing where, I'm out to. I'm. I'm out. He started yelling at the refs. He did the flagrant thing. He. Then he had another hard foul that they went and looked at because, hey, you're Draymond Green and you're kind of hot right now. I mean, look, they talked about this. Brent Barry talked about it a little bit on the broadcast, and there's a point in which. Wait, was it Brent Barry?

[C]

It was Brent Barry.

[B]

Okay. Okay. Just double checking. But he talked about a Little bit on the broadcast where, you know, he talked about how he just got to get past this. Right. He was stuck on it. The whole team gets stuck on it. You've got your entire team, your coaches pulling you away on this fairly inconsequential play. I mean, he hit, I will say this. The, the, the contact was certainly exaggerated, but he threw a chicken wing elbow when he was trying to tag Powell cutting to the basket. So, I mean, you're in the wrong. You committed a foul. Maybe it's not flagrant and you want to argue that point, but you, you're not going to get there.

[C]

The other aspect to this is, and this doesn't just apply to this game, but it's insane what Draymond gets away with when he comes, when it comes to talking to the officials, because you can clearly see he is screaming at the referees and there is a leeway that he gets that. Truthfully, no other player in the NBA is allowed to yell and berate a play. An official.

[B]

Luka Doncic is a close second.

[C]

Luka is a close second. I agree with you.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Those two probably get the most. Maybe it's one of those things where it's like, dude, we would have to eject you every single game, and you.

[B]

Can'T do it because people pay money to see these guys. Right. Like, I mean, and I don't want that to be the case. I just would love it if that, if Draymond didn't take his team out of the game.

[C]

Right. And I do wonder, though, if this is a snowball effect because, look, the Jimmy Butler injury, Kaminga now hurt.

[B]

I don't know anything on Kaminga.

[C]

Right, Right. But I am waiting with bated breath to see how this impacts the Jonathan Kaminga trade sweepstakes. Right. And then on top of all that, you have Draymond Green, you have Steve Kerr on the final year of his contract. Steph just talked about Jimmy and, and how that can change the complexion of your season.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

What if they tank? I mean, what if the warriors just tank this year?

[B]

I'm pretty much there with you, S. I mean, I, I, I know that this is just an idea, but. Yeah, look, you there right now, you know, playoffs start today. You're the eight seed, so you're a play in team. Right. And that's today. You know, there's a good chance that, that the Grizzlies make it to the play in if they don't trade jobs.

[C]

Clippers are surging. We just talked about.

[B]

Clippers are in the play in now. I, I, I think that the warriors could drop out of the, the play in race if they, if they move some guys. The thing about it is get Steph Curry. Yeah. Even in the game. I mean, in the game last night, Steph Curry doing ridiculous things and you're just thinking, well, okay, they've got Steph.

[C]

They can still win this guy some help.

[B]

Yeah, I don't know. It's pretty incredible.

[C]

I will say, I will say the way the basketball gods have worked over the last year. If you look at the Dallas Mavericks as an example of trading Luka Doncic, then being gifted the first overall pick, if the warriors don't trade, I'm not saying trade Steph Curry, but tank out the year, the basketball gods might be in your favor.

[B]

It's a shame there's no loan system like there is like in, you know, European soccer because, man, it'd be great to see Steph playing just on a better team. Frankly, doesn't even have to be a title competitor. Better team. Yeah, period. It would be nice. Anyway, guys, better team. Coming up after the break because Tony Jones joins us to talk about the Sixers big win over the Rockets. Joel Embiid. Tyrese Maxey called him mvp.

[A]

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[B]

Oh, we had a heck of a game last night as between the Rockets and the Sixers in Philadelphia. We got Tony Jones here to talk about it. And unlike last time, Tony, the Sixers did not lack energy. I would say they maybe had too much energy. We had got an overtime that we probably shouldn't have had because of a missed goaltending call. A wild game. But at the end, The Sixers win 1:28, 1:22 over a Houston Rockets team that I keep hearing are actual contenders. Tony, what'd you think about the Sixers? Let's start with that goaltending call. How did they miss this?

[D]

Well, things happen, you know, you miss calls all the time. This should not have been missed. It was a clear goal. 10. It was really obvious. It's, it's not a call that should, should have been missed in real time. But Nick Nurse made a say in point after the game, which is, you know, if there's any indecision, if it's close, you're supposed to call it and then that triggers the review. Yeah, you go and review it and then you get the call, right? One way or another. That's how it's supposed, that's how it's supposed to work. This play worked badly for, you know, John Goble and his crew on, on multiple ends. Number one, they miss the, they missed the initial goal 10. But number two, they awarded Houston a timeout before Houston actually had possession of the basketball on the impending scramble. Philly won that impending scramble, and had there not been a whistle, VJ Eskin would have had a wide open three at the top of the break to. To. To win or lose the game in regulation. So the Sixers, you know, kind of got hosed on two ends. You know, the. The goal 10. That should have happened. And the, you know, and. And the inadvertent whistled as it turned out. That disadvantaged the Sixers as well. Ironically enough, Houston's best path to win this game probably comes if they make the goal turn call.

[B]

That's right.

[D]

They make the goal 10 call with three seconds to go, and they got an opportunity. They get a timeout, and you have three seconds to get an opportunity, and you have Kevin bent on your team. And we all know what happens when road teams have to go to overtime. They shoot the three, they don't shoot the two. Yeah, well, Kevin Durant would have gotten a shot in all likelihood to. To win or lose the game.

[C]

Man, I thought it was crazy because the NBA, by the way, the officials now have these microphone slash headphone things that they are trying to implement into their officiating in general. That's to try to keep games going a little bit quicker, review calls faster. But it also should be implemented in moments like this when there's a clear missed call or a clear. You know, what is the point of having this instant communication with Sakakis if you aren't able to relay information that fast and also get a call that's going to potentially flip the game.

[B]

But again, I think on this one in particular, with the goaltend, it's just if you don't call it, there is no mechanism to do any sort of replay, period. Which is why we've seen, I think we've seen rightfully so many smart referees where it is bang, bang, like that.

[C]

Call it.

[B]

Let's just go ahead and call it and look at it. Yeah, and. But. But again, I mean, you know, you. You have a few downstream sort of side effects to this. Like you, like you mentioned, Tony, they don't. Sixers don't get a chance to get the ball. They don't get a chance to get the kick out. You don't get the Rockets getting a final possession. Instead, we got overtime. And the Sixers, as soon as it went to overtime, I told s. I was like, the Sixers have this wrapped up because they have Tyrese Maxey. But Also, Joel Embiid was pretty insane in this game. He winds up playing 46 minutes, 32 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists, two blocks. I don't even know when was the last time Joel Embiid had a game like this.

[D]

Guys, Joel Embiid said something hilarious in the locker room behind this. This is. So this is January 22nd. This is the two year anniversary of his 70 point game.

[B]

Right.

[D]

Okay. So, you know, he has 32, 15 and 10 tonight. The 15 is the most impactful number because he hasn't been rebounding this year. He's actually been scoring like, he's obviously been scoring really well. But, you know, the rebounding is, is a sign of how healthy he's getting now. He's starting to rebound the ball. Not only rebound the ball, but rebound out of his area. He's, you know, he's spent years being one of the best rebounders in the league. And those. That part has been way down this year. So, you know, the fact that he got 15, I believe this is a season high. You know, it's his first triple double of the season. You know, it's showing just how well he's starting to play and how well he's starting to feel. But in the locker room, he said a couple of things on this. You know, number one, you know, in terms of the goaltending, you know, he said this is why we have reviews. And it's really frustrating, disappointing that they didn't get this call Right. And that, you know, they didn't get the calls right. With all of the mechanisms that we have in our game.

[C]

Sure.

[D]

In order to get calls.

[B]

Right.

[D]

But the second thing, which was really hilarious was, you know, because January 22nd is fast becoming a really important day in the Embiid family. He said that he and his wife are probably going to try to time a kid to be born on January 22nd.

[C]

It's hard to do that. That's one day out of 365.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

He said he's gonna go home, he's gonna talk to his wife, he's gonna try to time it out and see what happens. Okay.

[B]

Well, they're gonna be in the playoffs in April.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

So quickly.

[C]

Nice. Good job.

[B]

There's only 12 months as. Come on. It's not like I'm doing calculus here.

[D]

You know, January 22nd is a good day for Embiid. I mean, two years ago he scored 70. Yeah. Now he's back after, you know, going through hell and back for two years. Now he's back and he's getting the 32, a 32 point triple double against Alfred Shagoon and the Houston Rockets. So hey, why not try, you know, try your luck, see what happens at the point of conception and see how close you get.

[C]

So, yeah, Tony, I thought like, overall you're completely right. By the way, this is his season high in rebounds. 15. His previous was 14. And you look at the connection between him and Tyrese Maxey. Maxey had 36 in this game. The, the two man action, the pitch ahead stuff that him and Maxi run. Obviously, Joel is such a great screener just because of his size, but it feels like when Joel has a good game and when he's able to still look like an MVP version of himself, it doesn't take away too much from what Maxi provides on any given night either. Right.

[D]

Yeah. I think the, the guy who, who kind of offensively, the usage falls by the wayside, ends up being VJ Etchkin. You know, so against last game that they played against the Phoenix Suns, they lose that game obviously. But no, Joel embiid, you know, VJS 25, right. Has 17, 18 shots. His usage is way up. His pick and roll touches are way up. He's basically catch and shoot when, you know, everybody's there. And that's fine because he's a rookie.

[B]

Sure.

[D]

But I do think that Vijay's so dynamic that I think that they need to figure out a way to. To keep him busy.

[B]

He could learn from Kelly Oubre.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Right.

[D]

Well, Kelly. Kelly doesn't care who's on the floor.

[C]

Yeah, he. He lets that thing fly.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Absolutely doesn't.

[B]

The thing about it is Kelly, he plays with so much energy all the time. He creates a lot of his own stuff in transition. I think Edgecombe with, with his dynamic athleticism could be, you know, he could be a guy that's able to do that. But how do, how do they make this work? Right. Like, because you need VJ to develop.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

And you've got this all NBA point guard in Tyrese Maxey. Like he is an all NBA level point guard. You've got Joel Embiid trying to find his way, looking more and more like himself. And we don't know that he'll ever get back to that MVP level. But I mean, he's better than VJ Edgecomb. Right. Like.

[D]

I think Joel's back to an all star level right now for sure.

[B]

I mean, he's definitely was last night.

[D]

He's. He's at around 28 points a game. In his last. Around his last 15. I mean, those just aren't pedestrian numbers. Not everybody can just put those up. So, you know, the question for me isn't offensively for him, it's defensively, how. Well, where, where can, how far can he get back defensively? What people don't understand about Joel Embiid is at his peak. I thought he was the second best defensive center in the league.

[C]

Absolutely.

[D]

Behind Rudy Gobert. Yeah. And I thought that he was the second best rim protector in the league behind Rudy Gobert, and he was also an apex rebounder. That's where he's taken more of a dip than anything. You know, he could still go out and drop 30 a night, right. And he could still go out and score with the best of him, but his lateral movement side to side is taking a real hit.

[C]

You saw that tonight, right?

[B]

They were, there were a lot of.

[D]

Moments they were trying to. They, they got them moving. You know, the, the Rockets got them moving. And, and, you know, I think Nick Nurse deserves some credit in terms of, you know, he came up with some creative strategies. You know, he stuck them on Jabari Smith a couple, a couple of times.

[B]

And they started bringing Jabari up to screen for KD and that, you know, he got to go.

[D]

If you bring Jabari up the screen, guess who's not coming up the screen? Sengun.

[B]

Right.

[D]

And Sung Goon's a much better screener than Jabari Smith. And if you hit Sengun on the short roll, he's one of the best short role players in the league and Jabari Smith isn't. So, you know, it, it, it. By putting Embiid on Jabari Smith, yeah, you're going to give up some catch and shoots, but you're going to keep him out of the primary action, which is what you want to want, want to do.

[B]

Yeah, but you know, they feast and drop, right. Like, this is the thing with a guy like Embiid is that you want to play him, drop 75% of the possessions, if possible. So when you, when you do bring him up for that high screen, it's easy for him to drop down. What are they going to do with the deadline? Are they going to make any moves like you see them adding any pieces or. I mean, this is a team, this is a playoff team that they, they're going to compete.

[C]

They also have to convert some contracts, right.

[B]

Because they've got a couple guys, right?

[D]

Yeah, I'm, I'm expecting them to sign a couple two ways or at least one two way. Not a couple one two way, because they only have two games left with Dominic Barlow and Jabari Walker on the floor in uniform at the same time. Otherwise they got to figure out something out and convert them. But if you sign a two way and you give that two way, I mean, you sign a 10 day, you get that guy 10 day, roll them over, you know, then that goes up to about 16, 17 more games.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Before they have to make a decision. Especially, you know, Jabari Walker has been terrific. I think that he's been good enough to be converted. Dominic Barlow is their sixth best player.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I'm starting for him.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

He's starting legitimately the sixth best player on this roster. And you know, I mean, that's just.

[B]

They'Re gonna sign him. That's the fact.

[C]

Yeah, it's the fact.

[B]

Breaking news from Tony Jones that the Sixers are going to sign their six best player at least through the rest of the season. I, I, that's, that's pretty good news. I mean, but do you see him like making a deal? Is there a deal to be made for them?

[D]

This is my opinion. This is my opinion. If you came into the, to the, to the season and you said, all right, let's say, so what do we think? Joel EMBI Is what, 80% of himself?

[B]

Yeah, sure, sure. Somewhere.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Okay, let's say Joel Embiid is going to play consistently and he's going to be 80% of himself. Tyrese Maxey is going to play at an MVP level all George. While his scoring is going to be down, his defense is going to be terrific.

[B]

Great last night.

[D]

Absolutely. Defense is going to be terrific. Kelly Oubre is going to have a career year scoring the basketball and he's going to knock out all of the Kelly Oubre plays that he does to sink a team. So he's not doing the Kelly Oubre stuff. And Vijay Eskim is going to be at worst third best rookie in the NBA.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

What do you say to that?

[C]

You say, I would probably say the Sixers have a chance to win the championship is what I would say at.

[D]

The start of the season. At least have a chance to compete in the Eastern Conference.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Okay. If I'm the front office, you gotta go for it this year. There's the east has never been more wide open.

[C]

But what does that mean for the Philly to go for it? Is it just keep this roster or is it go out and find someone?

[D]

I mean, do you call. Well, let's say we do something on the edges of the roster. Okay, what the hell is Sacramento doing with Keon.

[B]

Right.

[D]

Ellis. Okay, so I'm calling Sacramento, and I'm offering a couple seconds for Keon Ellis. Okay. You know, some matching salary or whatever.

[B]

Yeah. Or.

[D]

If you want to swing big. You know, I called New Orleans and say, what do you need for Trey Murphy? And see if you can. And see if you can meet it. If you can meet it, you can meet it.

[B]

If not, start with Paul George.

[D]

And, yeah, it's probably Paul George, but I don't want to trade Paul George, not with how well he's played defensively.

[B]

Right, Right.

[D]

Even that. Even with his contract. I don't want to trade Kelly Oubre because of how well he's played.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It's tough to rationalize that. Yeah.

[D]

So, I mean, you know, but I think Keon Ellis, with his point of attack defense, his ability to knock down a shot, I think he, you know, if you put him at the edge of this. Edges of this rotation, he helps the rotation a lot.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

So.

[B]

And you don't have to give up much, theoretically, to get him.

[D]

And.

[B]

And then you don't lose that elite shooting that, you know, Paul George is capable of. Right. I mean, you know, he's at, like, 37 on the season.

[D]

Right.

[B]

So it's just a little bit down from his. His peak, but that guy makes shots.

[D]

Yeah, he looks great on this year right now because he gets to play. He gets to be three.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

He gets to come out. He gets to defend you. You know, we like, oh, my God, Paul George is taking three shots through three quarters, but he was huge in the overtime because Houston stopped paying attention to him, and he was huge. He made a couple of huge baskets. They finally put him on Durant, and he got, like, three or four stops on Durant, you know, so, you know, he's fine with letting Tyrese and Joel do the heavy lifting offensively, and he kind of blend in and kind of fill in the gaps, you know, I mean, if you're a cynic, you're going to say, well, yo, we're paying him $35 million to do that.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

But, you know, he's better at getting.

[B]

Contracts already been signed.

[D]

He's better at being Tobias Harris than Tobias Harris. Okay.

[B]

Respect. Dave is so sure about.

[C]

Dave is a big Tobias Harris believer.

[B]

Conversation for doing this to the wrong podcast.

[C]

Tony, I will ask you. Tony, Tony, just one question here, all right. If you had a crystal ball. Looking forward to the end of the season for the Philadelphia 76ers. They're right now fifth in the Eastern Conference. As we speak, we just talked about their chances and the opportunity that they have this season. Where do they end up if you're looking at that ball?

[D]

I look at this roster and it's interesting because I've had several conversations about this. I don't think this is an 82 game roster. I think this is a 16 game roster. So it's. For me it's a mixed bag because I think that if you get the Sixers to the playoffs, I think they can compete with anybody in the East. I think that if you got to, if you went up and down the east right now, I would say this, I would say the Sixers would have a really, really, really tough time beating Detroit. I think that Detroit's a bad matchup for them. Yeah, I think that Cleveland's a bad matchup for them. As we've seen over the last eight or nine, eight or nine games between these two teams. However, Cleveland can't beat anybody else other than Philadelphia. So there's still like seven or six or whatever. Right. So they're not really going to see them. But I think the Sixers are a bad matchup for the Knicks. I think they're a bad matchup for the Raptors. Oh, yeah. And I think it's a toss, it's a toss up with, with, with Boston. So, you know, it's, it's a good chance.

[C]

That's a good chance.

[D]

I wouldn't say it's a good chance. The problem is you have to get to the playoffs, right. Because you have to make your way through the 82 games of the regular season.

[B]

Right.

[D]

You have to make your way through the pace of play. The difference with the Houston game last night is that that was a playoff play game. That was a half court game. That was a game played, that was a game played in 47ft, not 94ft. And if you looked at Tuesday against Phoenix, that game was played 94ft, right. And the Sixers really struggled to play in that game. So, you know, they have to figure out a way to manage the injuries, manage the availability and the unavailability and get to April and full health. But you don't want to get to April and full health being a seven or eight seat.

[B]

They need to be the four seat.

[C]

Four or five is where they need to be.

[D]

Yeah, you got to stay in that four or five, six at the very worst. I don't even want to see Boston.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

In the first round. Like you want to avoid Detroit, you want to avoid Boston in the first round.

[C]

Let's be real. You want want to play the Raptors in the first round.

[B]

You do want to play the Raptors in the first round.

[D]

Sixes are a nightmare matchup.

[C]

They are. They absolutely are. Especially Maxi. Maxi drops like 40 on them every single time.

[D]

Yeah, he drops 40 on them every single time. And then you're guarding Joel and B with Yaka Pertle.

[B]

Exactly. That's a trap. Guys, Tony Jones knows ball. Go and read them over at the Athletic. Thank you Tony for hanging out with us. Thanks to S my guys as always. Appreciate y' all always a good show when Tony's here. I'm Dave Defour, this is Ben the NBA Daily. Thanks for hanging out with us.

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