Embiid will return slowly - if at all - next season
A lot of hype surrounding the 76ers' 2016-17 season involves Joel Embiid. That's when the 7-foot-2 center is scheduled to make his debut after being sidelined this season and last season following surgeries to his right foot.
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A lot of hype surrounding the 76ers' 2016-17 season involves Joel Embiid.
That's when the 7-foot-2 center is scheduled to make his debut after being sidelined this season and last season following surgeries to his right foot.
But . . .
"I think everybody also must understand that . . . it's not like [Embiid] is going to come out and play 40 minutes and play 82 games," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "That would be naive and not true.
"We have to be responsible with some minute restrictions with him. You would assume that he's not going to play back-to-back games. All those things will be determined."
The Sixers selected Embiid third overall in the 2014 draft. He had bone-graft surgery to repair the navicular bone in his right foot in August. The former Kansas standout already has missed what would have been his rookie season after undergoing surgery in June 2014 to repair a stress fracture in the same bone. A setback in his recovery led to the second operation.
The Sixers already have two centers in Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor who failed to mesh when paired together on the court before Okafor suffered a season-ending torn meniscus in his right knee.
Assuming the Sixers keep all three next season, the position will be even more crowded than it is now if Embiid is able to play more minutes.
"That logjam maybe softens a little bit," Brown said. "And maybe the pain becomes a little bit less as you have more time to coach these guys and grow them together."
Win on tap?
The Sixers' best opportunity to get their 10th victory of the season may be Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center.
The last two victories for the Sixers (9-57) have come against the Nets (18-48). They defeated Brooklyn, 103-98, on Feb. 6 at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers went on to lose their next 13 games before beating the Nets, 95-89, on Friday at home.
The Sixers hold a 2-1 series advantage over their Atlantic Division foe.
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