ANDREW POWELL COLUMN: Trust the process: Embiid could be the championship piece that the Sixers need

The other day, my friend approached me about the Sixers winning as of late, but I completely ignored it. I didn’t take it serious whatsoever.

But then this little fascinating statistic came across my desk: The 76ers have the 4th best record in the National Basketball Association since December 30th. And they’ve had a better record than the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, a James Harden led Houston Rockets and the self-explanitory San Antonio Spurs since that date.

And the reason for this out of no where boost? Mr. Twitter himself: No, not Donald Trump! Joel Embiid

Joel Embiid is the second rookie in Philadelphia 76ers history with 20 points in 10 straight games – The first rookie? Allen Iverson.

With Embiid on the floor, the 76ers have outscored their opponents by 68 points, but without him on the floor, the Sixers have been outscored by their opponents by 292 points. Meaning: Philadelphia has a scoring margin of a 56-win team with Embiid on the floor this season, and a scoring margin of an 11-win team with him off of the floor. Are you serious?!

Embiid has a plus-minus of +48 this season. No other 76er has a postive +/-.

The 76ers have the No. 1 defensive rating in the NBA with Embiid, but without Embiid, they’re ranked at No. 25.Those are insane statistics! Pure craziness! So somebody explain to me why in the hell I didn’t listen to the people who told me to pay attention to Embiid?!I regret it now.And not only has it been Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania who have taken notice, but it’s also been the entire nation

The NBA All-Star votes were announced on Thursday night, and Joel Embiid got a total of 922,174 votes in the NBA All-Star process (no pun intended), and that’s 5th most in the entire Eastern Conference just behind LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kyrie Irving and Dwyane Wade.But what does all of this mean exactly?Philadelphia finally has another superstar.

Joel Embiid is the best thing to happen to Philadelphia sports in years. And just like Donald Trump is about to ‘Make America Great Again’, Embiid is about to make Philly great again! And of course it will take some time, possibly even years down the road before the potential is hit. But you have to relax and: “Trust The Process”.

Just ask the city of Philadelphia the other night at the Toronto Raptors game, chanting “trust the process” over and over again, and Mr. Embiid himself egging on the crowd to get them to chant louder.

Embiid has one of the roughest sports markets in the United States of America trusting him. That is quite the impressive feat in itself.

And I’m going to be completely honest about this whole scenario for a minute: Philly fans, Sixers Nation, the city of Philadelphia, the state of Pennsylvania: You better be grateful for the role that Rihanna (yes, Rihanna) played in Embiid’s life.

If you don’t recall, Joel once admitted that Rihanna “curved” him due to not being an All-Star, and oh boy, apparently the motivation exploded Embiid to a superstar level. And I’ll be even more honest about something: Embiid might be out of Rihanna’s league at this point. Sorry, RiRi.

But everybody thank Rihanna for this! Or you don’t have to, it’s just my silly theory behind it. And I’m sticking with it!

But it’s looking like the 76ers organization might be heading down the right road after financial troubles, consistent horrific seasons including only winning ten games last season, and we also can’t forget that they haven’t been a serious playoff threat in over a decade. It’s looking like all of that is about to change, but it’s going to take some time.

The Sixers obviously need more talent around Embiid, and if I’m Bryan Colangelo, I’m putting Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor as a tanden at the PF-C positions. Embiid is my center and Okafor is my power forward. Okafor hasn’t been developing how I had envisioned, but I’m still a big believer in his abilities and still feel like he could be a star in the league, and beside Embiid? That’s an incredible tandem. You can’t deny that. It’s impossible to go into the paint and rebound the ball going up against that!

You then throw Ersan Ilyasova in a package deal, maybe with an additional player and a draft pick, for a nice, sexy piece to put with the big fellas inside. And then you’ll have Ben Simmons present as well. Put some pieces through free agency and the draft around Embiid, Okafor, the sexy piece and Ben Simmons, and you have a nice contender in the Eastern Conference.

And if Joel Embiid continues on his road to stardom, the 76ers could become a championship contender within the next few years, especially with LeBron getting up in age in the East. All you have to do then is worry about the Golden State Warriors, but we’ll go down that road once the Sixers make the Finals.Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the nation should be excited! I am now after paying attention.And I’d like to sincerely apologize to Joel Embiid: I should have trusted the process.But I do now. You’ve got my undivided attention, Mr. Embiid.