Joel Embiid

The Philadelphia 76ers were hoping that the duo of James Harden and Joel Embiid would lead the team to postseason success this year, but things didn't play out as expected.

The Sixers were sent home in the second round, falling to the Miami Heat, and Harden and Embiid noticeably struggled to develop any consistent chemistry.

While speaking on an episode of The Ryen Russillo Podcast, Philadelphia forward Georges Niang discussed the tricky dynamic between the team's two star players. Niang explained that Embiid simply wasn't the type of center that Harden was used to playing with, and the lack of practice time together didn't help matters.

"It's an adjustment, right? James is playing with centers like Clint Capela, who's rolling to the rim. You know, not an ISO center like Joel or someone that catches it on the block," Niang said. "So sometimes James would get caught up, you know, trying to ISO and Joel is posting up and—what it really was is, you need chemistry and practice time and we didn’t have a lot of that considering when the trade went down."

The Sixers acquired Harden in February at the trade deadline in a blockbuster deal with the Brooklyn Nets as part of the package for Ben Simmons. In 21 regular-season games, Harden averaged 21 points on 40.2 percent shooting from the field and 32.6 percent from three-point range.

Harden's production dipped further in the postseason. He averaged 18.6 points in 12 games and he failed to reach the 20-point mark in four out of the six contests in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Heat.

Niang blamed Harden's struggles on a lack of clarity on his role within Philadelphia's offense.

"So there's a tough blend to find: Alright, when are we going to have James, you know, come off and ISO and have the lane open with Joel out there," Niang said. "Or when are we going to have James be a creator and playmaker for other guys and put Joel in a pick-and-roll or different things like that, or space the floor. So it was a tough dynamic."

Harden has a $47.37 million player option for the 2022-23 season remaining on his contract, and he indicated after the Sixers' playoff loss that he intends to remain in Philadelphia. Niang said he believes that a full summer together will work wonders towards fixing the chemistry issues within the team.

"He’s catching a lot of heat from other people and they're like, 'He needs to be better,'" Niang said. "But at the end of the day, when he has a full summer to get his legs up under him and you know obviously we have time to practice with training camp, I think it's going to be a lot better."

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is hard at work on the practice court despite having undergone surgery to repair separate thumb and finger injuries one week ago.

The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor reported Monday that Embiid "is already working this offseason on perimeter attacks and finishing with touch at the rim."

"Embiid and the Sixers hope he can become even more dynamic bringing the ball up the floor himself on the break and driving in the half court," per O'Connor. "... If Embiid expands his perimeter skill set, it could alleviate pressure on [James] Harden and Tyrese Maxey to be the sole creators."

The five-time All-Star was one of the NBA's best players this season, finishing runner-up to the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic in the MVP voting. He was the scoring champion (30.6 points per game) while averaging 11.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks.

There's only so much more a team can ask of a player who put up those numbers and finished with a 37.2 percent usage rate, per Basketball Reference.

But improving Embiid's game around the margins might be required in order for the Sixers to get themselves closer to a championship.

There's a reason Philadelphia acquired Harden despite watching Maxey make significant strides in his game. The team clearly needed a star who could operate on the perimeter and ease some of the offensive burden on Embiid.

Considering his game has noticeably declined over multiple seasons, the Houston Rockets version of Harden may never come back beyond a monster performance here and there. Assuming that's the case, the demands on Embiid will continue to grow.

There's no question the 7-footer is a physical marvel who can bang against other bigs inside or lead the break in transition.

Still, one can't help but feel the Sixers are attempting to alter Embiid's playing style in order to cover for a wider failure to build the right supporting cast around the 28-year-old.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said before Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday that the league is considering a change to the All-NBA team ballot after Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was surprisingly left off the All-NBA First Team this year.

Silver told reporters that "a fair amount of consideration" is going into making the All-NBA team ballot positionless.

"We're a league that has moved increasingly to positionless basketball," Silver told reporters. "We'll have discussions with the players on changing the way we vote for All-NBA teams. These decisions do have a financial impact on players."

This year's All-NBA First Team was made up of Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.

Embiid was named to the second team for the fourth time in his career despite receiving more first-team votes than Tatum. In total, he received 12 first-team votes at center and 45 at forward.

However, Tatum made the first team over Embiid because he had more votes than the big man as a forward.

Some voters attempted to get Embiid on the first team by voting him in as a forward instead of as a center because they knew Jokic would make the first team at center. If the All-NBA voting had been positionless this year, Embiid would've made the first team.

To be fair, Embiid should have been named to the first team after being named an MVP finalist. He had a career year, averaging 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks per game en route to a fourth place finish in the Eastern Conference.

Tatum even noted after being selected to the first team that the ballot should be positionless, adding that Embiid being snubbed from the first team was ridiculous after the year he had.

"I do think it should be positionless," Tatum said. "Joel Embiid was second in MVP voting and he made second team? It doesn’t really make too much sense."

Considering making an All-NBA team can result in a player qualifying for a supermax contract, the league definitely needs to sort out the voting because there are a number of players who could benefit financially.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid believes that the Miami Heat, who lost 93-80 to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, need another star player on the roster.

He also noted how Boston has simply overwhelmed the Heat with its multitude of options.

Six-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA player Jimmy Butler leads a Heat team that also includes 2020 All-Star Bam Adebayo and six-time All-Star Kyle Lowry.

However, Lowry has been significantly hindered by a hamstring injury. He's playing through it, but scored just three points total in his last two games.

Butler has also scored just 19 points on 7-of-32 shooting in his last two games. He notably left Game 3 with right knee inflammation.

Miami is also without second-leading scorer Tyler Herro (left groin strain).

Perhaps the Heat do need another star, as partially evidenced by the Heat averaging just 81 points per game in their last two matchups.

On the flip side, Miami is simply beat up right now, to the point where the Heat look nothing like the team that won 53 games and earned the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed. They trail Boston 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

Miami isn't done yet, though, as the Heat can stay alive with a win in Game 6 in Boston on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET. If the Heat win, Game 7 will be in Miami on Monday.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum came to the defense of the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid by taking aim at the All-NBA positional breakdown.

Embiid received second-team honors despite spending the entire 2021-22 season in the MVP discussion. That's because the rules only allow for one center on the first team, a spot that went to MVP winner Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

Tatum, a first-team selection, said Wednesday the situation "doesn't really make too much sense":

In an era where a lot more positionless basketball is being played, the simple breakdown of two guards, two forwards and one center on each All-NBA team doesn't fit as well as it did in the past.

Giannis Antetokounmpo spends a fair share of his playing time operating as a non-traditional center for the Milwaukee Bucks, but he still made the first team as a forward.

The role of center has also morphed in significant ways over the years. There are far fewer old-school post players who spend all their time around the rim as offenses seek bigs who can stretch the floor and, in the cases of Jokic and Embiid, help run the offense.

In March, Bill Simmons of The Ringer predicted voting issues related to the positional requirements:

The question is whether there's a solution beyond making it what amounts to a second MVP vote with the top 15 players from any position slotted anywhere on the three All-NBA teams.

That may be the only answer in order to avoid a snub like Embiid received this year, though. It took a season where the best two players were centers to further expose the obvious flaw in the system.

While it may not seem like the biggest deal on the surface, some players have All-NBA performance incentives in their contracts. Embiid had one related to his current deal before signing a four-year, $195.9 million supermax extension with the Sixers in 2021.

It'll be interesting to see whether the NBA addresses this before the 2022-23 campaign.

The 2021-22 All-NBA teams were revealed Tuesday night, and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid was once again on the second team. 

The MVP finalist was left off the first team while Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum made the cut.

Embiid had more first-team votes than Tatum, having earned 12 first-team votes at center and 45 at forward. However, Tatum made the first team over Embiid because he had more votes than the big man as a forward.

There was a general consensus that Jokic was going to make the first team as a center, so a collection of voters attempted to get Embiid on the first team as a forward. 

Embiid instead made the second team alongside Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry and Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan. 

Embiid had a tremendous year for the 76ers, averaging a career-high 30.6 points, 4.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game, in addition to 11.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.9 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from deep.

Despite never making the first team, the 28-year-old now has four All-NBA Second Team selections to his name. Not making the first team is the least of his concerns, though, as he and the Sixers need to focus on making a deep playoff run in 2022-23.