Opening night NBA MVP Power Rankings

Joel Embiid finally won his MVP last season. It was a contentious and often toxic awards cycle, but no person can honestly state that Embiid didn't deserve it. Whether you're Team Jokic or Team Embiid, there is no way around the historic season the scoring champ put together. It's important to remember the context of this award — it's about sustained regular-season dominance, not whether that dominance translates to the playoffs.

Embiid is probably the single most dominant scorer in the NBA right now. There's more to basketball than points, of course, but Embiid is a bonafide bucket. He compromises the defense with every touch, constantly commanding double or even triple teams at the elbow. Doc Rivers made the wise decision to unleash Embiid as a face-up scorer, rather than leaning on post-ups. The result was a more efficient Embiid, and notably, a more dynamic playmaking version of Embiid. He averaged 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists on .548/.330/.857 splits last season.

Passing has been Embiid's vice since he entered the league, but the 29-year-old has made legitimate growth in that department. He's processing the game quicker, making the right pass out of double teams, and leveraging his gravity as a driver to generate open looks for teammates. If he can continue that progress, especially in a season without James Harden, it's going to be impossible to keep him out of the race.

Embiid's reputation took a hit with yet another postseason failure, compounded by the sudden realization by half the NBA fandom that Jokic actually deserved his MVP awards. Now officially pegged as the "other guy" in that particular debate, Embiid will have a lot of hurdles to overcome en route to a second MVP award. But, we know how singularly dominant Embiid is. Without Harden (from the looks of it), the spotlight will be even brighter. The Sixers are still going to win a bunch of games and Nick Nurse appears fully ready to embrace Embiid not only as an offensive hub but as one of the game's great defensive anchors.

The two-way nature of Embiid's impact has always been an added bonus in these debates. Nurse is a defensive genius and Embiid is a one-of-one paint presence who can change the geometry of offenses with his length, strength, and anticipation skills. If the Philadelphia 76ers can put together another 50-win season with the Harden drama hanging over the franchise and Embiid putting together his best defensive season to date, he could join Jokic and Giannis in the back-to-back MVPs club.