Former Sixer Believes Joel Embiid's Prime Could End Soon

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has turned a lot of doubters into believers ever since he finally made his NBA debut after a multi-year hiatus due to injuries.

In Embiid's earlier days as an NBA center, many questioned whether he would ever be healthy enough to make an impact on his team or not.

These days, Embiid's a two-time MVP finalist, five-time All-Star, and a one-time NBA scoring champion. At this point, Embiid has proven his doubters from early on wrong, but now the big question is how many years does the big man have left in his prime?

As the number one option on the Sixers, Philadelphia's front office has prioritized building around Embiid over the last couple of years. While the Sixers have found tons of success in the regular season, they can't seem to get by the second round of the playoffs.

After bringing in a championship-winning head coach in Doc Rivers last season, the Sixers notched the first seed in the Eastern Conference. Following a five-game series against the Washington Wizards, the Sixers took on an upset loss against the Atlanta Hawks in seven games during the following round.

This past season, Embiid helped the Sixers notch the fourth seed in the East. As they replaced the three-time All-Star Ben Simmons with a ten-time All-Star in James Harden, the 76ers hoped Harden’s presence would be enough to get them to the Eastern Conference Finals at the very least.

But the Miami Heat put the Sixers away in six games during the conference semi-finals. As the 2022 offseason is here for the Sixers, they are entering a critical phase as they need to ensure they can build the right team around Embiid for the 2022-2023 season.

Everybody knows there needs to be urgency in Philadelphia due to the fact that Embiid’s championship window is currently open as he’s in his prime. And in the eyes of former Sixers guard Eric Snow, he believes the 76ers have to be close to championship contenders as he doesn’t see Embiid’s prime lasting for much longer.

Eric Snow says Joel Embiid only has a championship window of 2-3 more seasons with the #Sixers. @CBSSportsRadio @BleavNetwork

pic.twitter.com/ueGiELiaCI
— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) June 2, 2022

“I think they have to be close [to winning a championship],” said Snow on The Zach Gelb Show. “I do not think that the window with Joel is as big as maybe other people do. I think it’s a two, maybe three-year max that I think something has to be done in order to help them win in Joel’s window where I think it’s his best years. I think you have to approach it that way. I don’t know what Daryl Morey and Elton Brand are going to do about that, but I think that the urgency has to be very high.”

Embiid is still relatively young as he just turned 28 in March. However, the number of injuries the big man has suffered over the years could cause a lot of wear and tear as the seasons progress.

The good news for the Sixers is that the big man managed to play in a career-high of 68 games in 2021-2022 and had an MVP-caliber season while doing it. The bad news is that he suffered multiple injuries during the postseason, which required surgery following the playoffs.

Philly’s big man is as tough as they come as he continues to battle through injuries to help his team out. But as the setbacks rack up, they become more alarming as the 76ers have to do all they can to build a championship-caliber team around their star.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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