The Philadelphia 76ers are 1-3, just lost to the Pistons, and have a bottom-10 offense to start the season with Joel Embiid and Paul George both out with injuries. Despite Tyrese Maxey’s best efforts, not much will change until those stars return.
Embiid may be getting close, having survived several 5-on-5 scrimmages, reports Shams Charania on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
“I’m told he’s basically in the acceleration phase of his return process, of his debut process. He’s completed, from what I’m saying, multiple 5-on-5 scrimmages in the last few days. And so the Sixers. wants to make sure, from a conditioning perspective, that his knee is 100% before he gets back on the floor for his debut. He has workouts scheduled today and Friday to gauge if he can return as soon as this weekend.”
The 76ers host the Grizzlies on Saturday, then head out west on a three-game road trip that includes games against the Suns, Lakers and Clippers. What all those teams have in common is a big center who can hit bodies with Embiid – Zach Edey in Memphis, Jusuf Nurkic in Phoenix, Ivica Zubac with the Clippers – with the possible exception of the Lakers, but they have Anthony Davis, who was probably the best player in the NBA so far this young season.
The league has already fined Philadelphia $100,000 because as it was talking about Embiid and their rather bare plans to load manage his knees this season with the aim of getting him to the finals healthy for a change. Good or bad, that goal hasn’t changed, Charania said.
“This is all part of what has been described to me as the new normal for Joel Embiid. That will include periodic time off at different points throughout the season. It will include routine checks on his knee throughout the season. , and it’s all part of the Sixers and Embiid’s new strategy this season on how to keep him healthy when he’s never been, and that’s for the playoffs.”
If that means more fines, the 76ers can sink that, too. As the opening week of the season showed, the 76ers need him and George healthy to have a chance against not only the top of the East, but most of the conference.
