By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
Sports Illustrated rolled out its final batch of their Top 100 NBA Player Rankings ahead of the 2018-19 season. In total, five Sixers have made the list. In the past few days, we saw JJ Redick (62nd), Dario Saric (54th), Robert Covington (48th), and Ben Simmons (26th) each get placed in the Top 100 and now it is Joel Embiid's turn. The 7-foot-2 native of Cameroon, selected third overall by the Sixers in 2014, comes in to the Sports Illustrated Top 100 Rankings at No. 9. The Sixers are one of seven teams with five or more players on the Top 100, one behind Golden State and Boston.
After missing two full seasons and playing just 31 games in his debut season due to injury, Joel Embiid showed the league what he's all about last season for the Sixers. If you would have told fans that Embiid would play between 50-55 games, most would be elated. The big man ended up playing in 63 games, leading his team to 52 wins while also appearing in his first All-Star Game. Turnovers aside, Embiid is arguably among top 2-3 best big men in the NBA. Anthony Davis might be the only one ahead of him at this point.
Joel finished the 2017-18 season with averages of 22.9 points, 11 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 blocks, shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from beyond the arc. He was named to the All-NBA 2nd Team and All-Defensive 2nd Team after the 2018-19 season. Embiid ranked third in the NBA in usage percentage (33.4) and defensive rating (100.5), fourth in blocks (1.8) and seventh in rebounds (11.0)
Embiid landed second in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting, behind Rudy Gobert, and even got a few votes for MVP, finishing 12th in voting for the NBA's biggest individual honor.
Here's Sports Illustrated's view on Embiid in the No. 9 spot in their rankings:
It’s rare to see a player already in the running for Defensive Player of the Year developing at such a rapid rate. Embiid is a sponge. The nuances of professional play are still so new to him, yet instinct guides Embiid to positions of particular impact. He has a natural aptitude for rotation, which involves reading the floor and timing out plays as they progress. Opponents are terrified of him, which buys Embiid time; players take such a wide berth around him and use so many pump fakes that Embiid has a longer window than most to get where he needs to go. Even at this stage, he all but guarantees an elite defense. Imagine how good Embiid could be when he actually knows what he’s doing.
It’s that trajectory that makes Embiid, who stands to improve more than any other player in our Top 10, so difficult to rank. Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo could add to their games, but not so much as a center with limited experienced in organized basketball set to play his third NBA season. There are still noticeable hitches in Embiid’s game that could be ironed out, from the way he deals with double teams to his gutsy shot selection or his carelessness with the ball. Embiid is a thoroughly dominant work in progress, which should come as a terrifying prospect to the rest of the league. There are few players capable of credibly guarding Embiid as it is. Things could really take a turn as his play elevates; we’re not far from Eastern Conference contenders stocking some big-bodied “Embiid stopper” by necessity.
The caveat to all this, of course, is Embiid’s health. We have yet to see him play more than 63 games in a season, which came in what was easily Embiid’s healthiest campaign to date. It helps his case that so many other top players (Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, and Jimmy Butler, in particular) tend to miss between 15 and 20 games on average. Their own injury histories work as an equalizer. There’s more worry with Embiid because of his size and the chronic nature of his injuries, but this lists forecasts for a single season based off the healthiest Embiid has ever been. Allow, at least, for the possibility that the Sixers can be cautious with Embiid and still have him in uniform for around 65 games.
Embiid finished ahead of 10th ranked Jimmy Butler and behind Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony David, James Harden, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
