Joel Embiid 's championship aspirations have gotten a significant boost after the Philadelphia 76ers signed All-Star forward Paul George , formerly of the L.A. Clippers, without giving up anything.
With the addition of PG, the Sixers will try again with a new Big 3 of Embiid, George, and Tyrese Maxey . Philly once experimented with Joel, Ben Simmons, and James Harden, but that trio did not get them past the second round of the playoffs. This time around, the 2023 MVP thinks they can make a deep postseason run and possibly win a championship because George is an excellent fit for their team.
"Yeah, I think as far as the fit, it looks amazing," Embiid said in an interview with ESPN. "It is great, especially when you got a big …you need to have willing shooters and guys that are not afraid to pull the trigger. PG, great shooter, 40%, 45 catch and shoot; Tyrese, we know, great shooter, off the dribble, catch-and-shoot."
Sixers now have two knockdown shooters in PG and Maxey
George is coming off a season where he shot a career-high 43.1% from three-point distance on 3.3 three-pointers made per game. As Embiid said, he was even better in catch-and-shoot situations at 45.4% from deep with an effective FG% of 65.5%.
Aside from Paul, Joel will also have the returning Maxey, who is coming off an All-Star season. Tyrese saw his 3P% drop to below 40% for the first time in three years at 37.3%, but he was a laser-guided 44.4% on catch-and-shoot three-pointers with an effective FG% of 65.1% in such situations.
With two deadly shooters playing alongside him, opponents will hesitate to double-team Embiid, leaving him with a good shot at implementing his post-up and power game. If the double comes, Joel will have the confidence to kick it out, knowing he has two excellent catch-and-shoot snipers waiting for the ball to be delivered to them.
Related: Scottie Pippen on how Michael Jordan would have reacted if he left the Bulls: "He would have probably tried to shoot more and score more"
Skip says PG is not a superstar
While Embiid is high on the arrival of the 9-time All-Star to Philly, Fox Sports analyst Skip Bayless isn't too high on the move by the Sixers. According to Bayless, PG is not a superstar and has never been one .
"He's just not that guy," declared Skip. "He's not a superstar. He's just a star. And he's a really good star. But he's just a second star, he's a complimentary star. He's a 1A and a very good 1A. He's a wondrous talent… What he is is just PG, as in 'pretty good.'"
Bayless is clearly missing the point here. With Embiid around, the Sixers don't need Paul to be the main man on their team. He is correct that PG is a complimentary star, and as Joel pointed out, his skillset is the perfect complement to the former MVP's game, which makes him a great acquisition.
Related: "You know how soft that team gonna be if he and Embiid go together?" - Evan Turner doesn't think a Paul George-Joel Embiid duo would work
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