Sixers Notes: Embiid out of walking boot: 'Everything is right on track'

The 76ers are saying that "everything is right on track" in regards to Joel Embiid's foot.

The rookie center was in Los Angeles Tuesday for a scheduled appointment with surgeon Richard Ferkel as a follow-up to his June 20 surgery to repair a broken navicular bone in his right foot.

"It's healing at the rate that we expected," coach Brett Brown said Wednesday before the Sixers played the Chicago Bulls at the Wells Fargo Center. "He has been allowed to dunk if that's what it takes.

"Really not much news that we said yesterday. We are just here to report that everything is right on track."

Tuesday, Brown responded to a report that Embiid had a "minor setback" in his rehabilitation. The 7-footer was spotted Sunday wearing a walking boot, something he hadn't worn in some time. The former Kansas standout is no longer in the boot, the Sixers said.

Embiid was expected to sit out the 2014-15 season after the Sixers selected him third overall in the NBA draft in June. He lost some of the excess weight he had gained and looked good while participating in on-court drills before Sixers games. He even finished a layup with a between-the-legs dunk before Friday's home game against Utah.

There was a lot of public concern after the 20-year-old was spotted wearing a walking boot two days after that dunk. But all the while, the Sixers said that Embiid only experienced soreness and that everything was fine.

Ferkel apparently agreed, increasing Embiid's allotted court time to 60 minutes.

The native of Cameroon has participated in a lot of drills by himself. Brown said the next phase will involve facing another person.

"There is going to be some discretion that we use in regards to how long we decide to work him out," Brown said. "We've got to be smart with trying to get his weight down and his conditioning up. We have to mirror that somehow."

Brown will join director of player development Billy Lange and head athletic trainer Kevin Johnson in coming up with a more detailed plan for Embiid.

"But the bottom line is he came back from Los Angeles with the news that we all expected," Brown said.

Although he was easily winded, Embiid looked good during his pregame workout that included dunks, mid-range jumpers, three-pointers and post moves.

"We understand when you get the dunk and then you see him with the boot, you connect the dots," Brown said. "We appreciate the sensitivity of that, given what this city has been through with big men. We're moving on."