I keep saying that we live in the age where the 6'4" to 7' positionally flexible player is the most valuable guy there is. And the unicorn of that player is the one that can shoot threes well at volume, draw fouls, and play plus defense. Those guys are always more valuable than traditional centers due to the latter's limited defensive toolbox. But people keep ooooohing and aaaaahing over big men and overrating them as a result. I love watching Jokic play... for the Nuggets. I'd probably hate him if Boston had 30% of their cap tied up in a guy that gets run off the floor.The argument against Embiid is really the argument about cornerstone centers in the playoffs.
Embiid can protect the rim and make you pay at the other end if you try to "Gobert" him (playing 5 out) in a way Gobert cannot. But Embiid still only plays drop coverage. Every playoff team with a chance to win a title is going to have multiple guys who can run a high PnR into a makeable 3 point shot off the dribble. Against drop coverage, that shot is always there. Yes, other teams also have drop coverage centers, but they aren't being paid the max (or supermax, or supehrmahx -- I tried to do that in French).
Philly still hasn't made it out of the second round of the playoffs in the lesser conference. MVP Jokic (similar drop coverage issues, but without the rim protection) couldn't make it out of the second round (and got destroyed by PnR). I've turned Gobert into a verb which tells you all you need to know about the Jazz in the playoffs.
Maybe if Philly finally gets rid of Simmons, gets their own version of a guy that can run a high PnR, and surrounds Embiid with the right kinds of players we'll see that Embiid isn't just an 82 (well, more like 65) game player but a 16 game player as well. I have some doubts.
Now if you can find a Kevin Garnett type player for the C spot, you've obviated the problem. And I guess those guys would be real unicorns. But after Anthony Davis, how many of those guys are there? Bam would be another. Marvin Bagley could have been one, I guess, until injuries overtook him (that goes for Harry Giles too). But there just aren't that many defensively flexible bigs out there now. The wing is king.