4. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Joel Embiid might win the MVP award this season but he still ranks fourth on my list. Personally, I would give the MVP award to the player that is ranked third on this list, but that does not seem to be what is going to happen.
We all know that the MVP award is half based on narratives and Embiid has the narrative. This is now his second great season in a row and voters are going to be more likely to want to award that performance, especially with him holding down the fort during the Ben Simmons fiasco.
Embiid is a rare specimen that can do just about anything on the court. He is someone who is going to punish every single team that goes small on him while also having the ability to stretch the floor and hit shots when needed.
Defensively, there are not many players who are better at the rim than Embiid is, making him one of the best two-way players in the entire league. However, you can get him uncomfortable a bit on defense if you draw him out of the paint with a big that can shoot or in small lineups.
But as mentioned, if you try and go small against the 76ers then Embiid is just going to drop 40 points on your head.
Embiid won the scoring title over LeBron James this season and quite frankly, that is better for basketball. Embiid is someone who went out and helped his team win games while LeBron was very obviously stat-padding over the second half of the season.