The Sixers continue to believe that star center Joel Embiid, who underwent surgery on the meniscus in his left knee earlier this month, should be able to return to the court before the end of the regular season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on Tuesday during an appearance on NBA Today (YouTube link).
“They still are optimistic that they can get him back,” Wojnarowski said. “I think there’s some hope that they can get him back on the court by sometime in late March, back starting to get into condition. The goal here isn’t necessarily to try to bring him back and see how many regular season games you might be able to win with him. The goal is to get him as healthy as he can be for the postseason.”
When the Sixers announced Embiid’s procedure on February 6, they said he would be reevaluated in four weeks. As Wojnarowski notes, that means we’re still about a week away from the team providing a more official update on the reigning MVP’s progress and possible timeline.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- X-rays on Deandre Ayton‘s sprained right hand came back negative, Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups said on Tuesday after Ayton left the team’s loss to Miami early (Twitter link via Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report). However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Portland center is in the clear. “I think there will be some further testing because he was in quite a bit of pain,” Billups said (link via ESPN).
- Nets guard Cam Thomas underwent an MRI on his sprained right ankle on Tuesday, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. While the results haven’t yet been announced, Thomas said on Monday that he doesn’t believe this ankle injury is as severe as the one that cost him nine games in November.
- The Clippers will be without star forward Paul George for a second straight game due to left knee soreness, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Head coach Tyronn Lue said that George didn’t practice on Tuesday and wouldn’t be available on Wednesday vs. the Lakers after having sat out Sunday’s loss to Sacramento.
Not sure if bringing back Embiid make sense at all. The team is heading to the play-in tourney. Let him rest get healthy and upgrade the team this off season with a lot of cap space.
I think it depends on the standings. If he’s at playable level and they’re 5th which isn’t that unlikely, then they ease him back to be fit for the play offs. And if this happens we may finally have our Embiid/Jokic finals. I like them more than any other eastern contender not named Boston.
If they’re not top 6 they’ll likely shut him down to next year if they can’t win the play in.
The next game he plays in will be a preseason one.