Joel Embiid’s return from knee surgery that cut his 2024-25 season short has been rather ambiguous. The veteran center was officially shut down at the end of February and had an arthroscopic procedure done in early April. Since then, the Sixers have been rather mum and non-committal on timelines for Embiid, and we’re now just a couple weeks away from the start of the 2025-26 season and we’re still not sure when Embiid is going to play.
Of course, whenever he plays, it’s a foregone conclusion that there will be a lengthy load management plan yet again for Embiid. At this point, it seems like everyone is simply crossing their fingers that Philadelphia is deep enough to withstand the slew of Embiid absences and that he’s got some high-end basketball left in his body come next spring. It seems more like hope than a plan and we’re certainly not about to blame anyone that doesn’t share that kind of hope. But the fact of the matter is, there isn’t really a viable alternative for Philadelphia as 2025-26 gets started.
Embiid’s contract is immovable and the decisions to give out the big contracts like the ones the Sixers gave to Embiid and Paul George aren’t ones that you recover from quickly if they don’t work out. It sure seems like Philadelphia has buried itself in a hole that will take some time to dig out of and the hopes of Embiid being the franchise centerpiece that ends the team’s quarter-century drought without appearing in the Eastern Conference Finals are essentially gone. So, now what?
Given Embiid’s contract and over a decade of NBA experience, all with the Sixers, it wouldn’t be surprising if he stuck his foot in the ground and dug in over the organization’s plan for him this season and any disagreement he may have with it. After all, that’s kind of the way things go with star players in the NBA. Almost all of them are never shy to voice their displeasures with their current organization. Regardless of how you feel about Embiid and how much you may believe some of his lack of commitment may have contributed to his inability to stay on the court, he has not called the Sixers out publicly often. That does feel like a point in his corner considering the Sixers have failed him more than he has failed the Sixers. If he is unhappy with the way the last few months have gone and how he’s going to be handled in 2025-26, he’s also not making that known.
At the team’s late September media day, Embiid said he “feels good” and has “made a lot of progress” and that he wants to “play consistently” in 2025-26. But he also stopped short of commenting on when he might first take the floor this season. Clearly, there are a lot of moving parts it would seem and there’s quite a bit of ambiguity surrounding Embiid’s status as we near the start of the regular season. But, for what it’s worth, Embiid did participate in a 5-on-5 live practice session before the Sixers left for last week’s preseason games in Abu Dhabi, and [again participated in live practice Wednesday](/76ers-news/78882/sixers-practice-notebook-quentin-grimes-joel-embiid-paul-george-trendon-watford-injury-update).
While a timeline remains murky and no one can be sure what kind of playing pattern Embiid is going to morph into whenever he does take the floor, the available evidence does not suggest any friction between Embiid and the Sixers. By now, you should be taking any kind of small victory you can get when it comes to Embiid and injury rehab. The fact that Embiid seems to be a willing participant in a “let’s just see how this goes and adjust accordingly” kind of plan is definitely a small victory for everyone and not allowing his return to become an issue before the season even starts.
“I’m not going to play 82 games,” Embiid said at the practice facility on Sept. 28. “Everyone knows that. So trying to win those games when I’m not playing could go a long way to accomplishing whatever goals we have. That goes back to approaching every day (the same).”
That sure sounds like someone who is on the same page with the coaching staff and front office about what the next 6-8 months should look like for him. Embiid also added something that feels obvious but again proves he’s committed to the success of the team first and foremost.
“Nothing helps me more than seeing us win,” Embiid said. “For most of my career we haven’t had a chance to do that. Whether it’s me missing or another top player missing.”
To finish where we started, if you’re still reaching the conclusion that this is all just a fruitless endeavor and Embiid’s body simply won’t hold up regardless of what plan is in place for him this season, you’re probably not wrong. Additionally, there’s probably not much of a reason to think the Sixers have finally solved their backup center problem because it’s existed for Embiid’s entire career. Although, for what it’s worth, they did invest quite a few resources this past offseason in shoring that spot up in the rotation.
We can all cross our fingers with management and hope that backup center is finally solved, VJ Edgecombe is a Rookie of the Year candidate and Jared McCain comes back from his UCL sprain at some point in November and doesn’t miss much time in the regular season. Philly probably needs all of that to go right and for Embiid to be his normal MVP-caliber self when he is on the floor to have a chance this season. But, any locker room tension between Embiid and management would probably derail any hope for 2025-26 anyway. At least it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen this year.
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