The Philadelphia 76ers are trying to trust the process, and part of that plan may be to put Joel Embiid back on the shelf for the remainder of the season. Embiid has officially been ruled out indefinitely by the Sixers, and with the team not likely to make a playoff push anyway, it would seem to make sense to not take any more chances with Embiid the rest of the season.
Embiid has missed playing time since the All-Star Weekend and is now set to have an MRI on Monday.
Medical update (1/2):
•Embiid did not take part in shootaround after swelling in left knee. MRI today. Listed out indefinitely.— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 27, 2017
Embiid has swelling/soreness in knee. Now listed as out indefinitely. He'll have an MRI this afternoon.
— Jessica Camerato (@JessicaCamerato) February 27, 2017
The Embiid news, given his injury history already since arriving in Philadelphia, should be alarming of course. Big men and knee injuries are always a little unsettling, and the Sixers are already putting their recent No. 1 overall draft pick on the bench for the remainder of the season (Ben Simmons).
With Embiid out indefinitely too, it may be the best course of action to sit Embiid for the remainder of the season and make sure he is ready to go at full speed starting in the 2017-2018 season.
Speaking of Simmons, he just had bone marrow injected into his right foot to help speed up the recovery process.
Ben Simmons has bone marrow injected into injured right foot to accelerate healing. #SixersTalkhttps://t.co/cYB5CVWlJR
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) February 27, 2017
We have already seen what Embiid is capable of doing when healthy, and if sitting him now means more of that next season then this is an easy decision. This will leave some Sixers fans upset they will not get to see Embiid again this year if the team does sit one of their franchise players, but it makes the most sense as well for the long haul. And everything the Sixers have done in recent years has been for the long haul. That plan should not be altered now, even under a new general manager in Bryan Colangelo.
Of course, the Sixers also just traded away Nerlens Noel to the Dallas Mavericks before last week’s trade deadline and did not get an especially great or promising return on their end. With this Embiid news coming just days later, Sixers fans have a legitimate reason to gripe a little bit, but those who have stuck by the Trust the Process mantra the past few years will likely not lose sleep over this latest development.
Not yet, at least.
