Shaquille O'Neal predicts Joel Embiid will be the NBA's best man in the 2026-27 season

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Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers have undergone massive changes in the 2026 offseason. In the 2025-26 season, they had a decent team with Tyrese Maxey serving as his co-star and VJ Edgecombe showing promise as a rookie.

While the 76ers still have those players, they have completely shifted in other areas of the team. They now have Jaylen Brown, an All-NBA Second Team player in the previous season, and they now have LeBron James, quite possibly the greatest player in NBA history. This could lead to a big shift for Philly, but Embiid can have one of his best seasons in recent memory.

Shaquille O'Neal predicts Joel Embiid will be the NBA's best center again

For a long time, Embiid was competing to be the NBA's best center with the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic. The league has experienced some big changes over the years while Embiid has struggled with injuries. San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama is now in the conversation of being the best center while Jokic is getting a bit older.

Embiid has had some flashes of brilliance over the past three years since he won the regular season MVP in 2023. Back then, he averaged a whopping 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds to become the league's MVP. Now, that could win him the MVP yet again, but it is unlikely given how the 76ers will need to share the ball among their star-level players next season.

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Despite those circumstances, it seems three-time Finals MVP Shaquille O'Neal believes that Embiid can be the league's best big man again. He believes that Brown and James' arrivals can help him reach his peak level again.

"Joel Embiid is going to dominate this year. You heard it here first. Joel Embiid will be the best big man in the league. He’s passing up the Joker this year," Shaq said about Embiid's 2026-27 season on The Stephen A. Smith Show.

Of course, this will be dependent on whether or not Embiid is healthy. It will be challenging to do that because Embiid has not played over 39 games since his MVP campaign in the 2022-23 season. If he does go into the 2026-27 season healthy, Shaq's statement could happen, but in the meantime, the best center distinction will be between Jokic and Wembanyama again.