Simmons, Embiid in summer league? Too soon to tell

76ers rookie Ben Simmons will miss the entire season. Joel Embiid has played only 31 games. Do the 76ers expect them to play summer-league basketball in July?

"I think it's too early to make that judgment," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "I hear the question, but I think that's certainly stuff that we're talking about.

"But in relation to giving a definite answer, we're not even close to being there yet."

Simmons suffered a Jones fracture in his right foot on Sept. 30. He had a bone marrow injection on Feb. 27 because the foot was not fully healed after surgery. He was expected to resume his normal rehabilitation by last Friday. Simmons has participated in post-shootaround shooting drills and is doing classroom work with Brown.

The Sixers announced that Embiid was done for the season last week. At that time, he had already missed 14 consecutive games and 17 of 18 after suffering a bone bruise to his left knee on Jan. 20. An MRI exam shortly afterward revealed a torn meniscus, which worsened. That caused the Sixers to shut down Embiid for the season.

The Sixers got the extra post player they needed by getting the NBA to approve an extra roster spot. The team called up Delaware 87ers center Shawn Long on Monday.

"I thought they were just inviting me to work out," Long said. "It's a big opportunity for me, and I look to capitalize on it."

Long was averaging 20.2 points and 11.1 rebounds for the Sevens, the Sixers' NBA Development League team. He was one of the Sixers' final cuts in the preseason.

The Sixers petitioned the league for a 16th roster spot because they have four players out for at least an additional two weeks after missing at least three games.

In addition to Embiid and Simmons, Jerryd Bayless and Tiago Splitter are the long-term sidelined players. Bayless played in only three games because of torn ligaments in his left wrist. Splitter, whom the Sixers acquired Feb. 22 from the Atlanta Hawks in a trade, is out with a strained right calf.

Long signed a partially guaranteed deal with the Sixers on July 7. The team waived him on Oct. 24, the final day of the preseason, but retained his D-League rights.

"Basketball wise, I think I've come a long way through the development league," the 6-foot-9, 255-pounder said. "I think the biggest thing is just respecting the grind. Anybody that makes it through that, you have to respect it. It's a tough grind with the travel.

"So it's the biggest thing I grab from it."

Long said he has adjusted to the physicality of the pro game since being waived by the Sixers.

That's a good thing, because there appears to valuable minutes for him here. In addition to the four sidelined players, Jahlil Okafor (right knee soreness) missed games on Saturday and Monday with left knee soreness.

"In Delaware, I played a lot of minutes, luckily," Long said. "It was a good situation for me. Coming up here, I look to rebound the ball hard and do whatever Coach asks me to do."

NBA commissioner Adam Silver attended Monday's game against the Bucks. He met with Sixers majority owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer and also spoke with Wells Fargo Complex president John Page.