1. I don’t know if he’s Top 5 just due to the MVP, because, like Nash, of his defensive deficiencies and because of how hard the league leans on guys who create from the perimeter for both themselves and others. I think he’s fairly indisputable Top 5 offensive players in the league, so he’s almost certainly Top 10. But like I said elsewhere, if he can be a Top 3 MVP candidate again next year— or if he can somehow will this short handed Nuggets team to the WCF? Then I think it’s gonna be increasingly hard to leave him out— especially considering how a couple of the consensus Top 5 guys are getting up there in age.

2. Even if Embiid had played a full season, Jokic had a historically good offensive season for a big man. I think it’d have easily been Jokic regardless. That said, I agree that Embiid’s two way impact means I’d theoretically start a team with him over Jokic… that said again, it’s hard to ignore Embiid’s health history compared to Jokic’s. While Jokic’s lack of athleticism certainly caps his upside to some extent (a funny thing to say, given that he just won NBA MVP), it also means his game is less reliant on movement, so he’s less likely to get hurt and he’s less likely to be ineffective the older he gets. He could genuinely play like this for damn near another decade. It’s hard to ignore the impact on the floor an elite passing and elite shooting big like Jokic has. So I don’t know. That’s a tough call, and I think they’re way closer overall than people like to admit.