Embiid's progress raising eyebrows

AS MUCH AS Brett Brown tries to corral the young minds of his players into staying focused on the remaining four games, starting with tonight when they host the Washington Wizards, it's impossible for thoughts not to drift.

Days that don't include travel or an early-morning practice after a game the night before seem heavenly right about now. But if the team is going to look anywhere past the remainder of this season, it's not so much to get away from the rebuild, it's to envision what lies ahead. And that vision is right before their eyes everyday, the player they selected third overall in last year's draft.

Joel Embiid, sidelined all season as he rehabs a broken foot, amped up his workouts again yesterday. He played some two-on-two basketball for the first time, Brown said. After practice, he again showed a smooth-shooting stroke, which is consistent out to the three-point line, shot fadeaway jumpers after low-post fakes and repeatedly made short jump hooks.

"I'm going to take my bets on him," said Thomas Robinson. "He's my teammate and a KU [Kansas] guy. He'll be great. I like that he's not a typical back-to-the-basket center. He is a little versatile. He can do a lot more than just stand in the post and shoot jumpers. He can handle the ball. I'm not saying he's going to do these things, but he has the package to use them if he has to. Later on in his career, once everything gets together, then he'll be a problem."

The frame, which had gotten a tad heavy during the season, appears to be about NBA-fit right now. The hope is that his work ethic will get there, too. Who he'll be teamed with next season is anyone's guess, but the excitement of having Embiid in the post next season has some perhaps looking ahead a little more than they should.

"We've watched him play one-on-one a lot and now [yesterday] he got into doing some two-on-two stuff," said Brown. "He's still a long way away, but it's a lot more revealing what he can do when you can start seeing him play basketball.

"Physically, it's important that none of us get ahead of ourselves or expect something too quick, too soon, because that's not going to happen. But when you see glimpses of his skill package, you can't help but say, 'Wow.' Just like we saw when we saw him play at Kansas. It's a two-way player and you're just seeing hints of some of the great players and all wrapped up into somebody that hasn't played basketball in a really long time.

"What I will say is when Joel got injured in the workouts [during predraft workouts] and I thought there was a chance that he could fall to us, I just get really excited. I think that his upside is what everyone else thinks it is - it's big."

"I think I wish I was 6-11," said Ish Smith, of what he thinks when he watches Embiid. "When I watch him work out . . . Sometimes you sit and watch somebody and say 'He's pretty good.' But, like [Nerlens Noel's] athletic ability, you can sit and watch some of the things that he can do. Joel, when he's out there dribbling the ball and shooting threes, I think you're just kind of in awe, like, 'Am I a step behind?' He's so far ahead of the curve. He's doing things that I'm working on and learning now."

Guard Isaiah Canaan was at practice yesterday, wearing a boot on his right foot. He injured the foot last Wednesday when his leg was hit after shooting a jumper against the Washington Wizards and he landed awkwardly. The injury, at first, appeared to be pretty serious. However, the team announced a couple of days later that it was a sprained foot. The hope was the 6-foot guard would miss a couple of games. The plans, however, have changed.

"Canaan will be out for the year," said Brett Brown. "There's nothing else going on. But realistically, with 7 days left and four games left it's just not enough time. He will be out for the year."

Blog: ph.ly/SixervilleBy Bob Cooney