The Philadelphia 76ers have not decided to punt the rest of the season, despite losing nine consecutive games and having a 20-38 record, according to The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer. And while Joel Embiid has missed Philadelphia’s last two games after saying that he’s not playing like himself and will likely need another knee surgery, his next steps reportedly remain unclear.
Embiid has met with more than 10 doctors about his left knee, which required surgery in February 2024, and there is expected to be “some form of resolution” by the end of the week, per The Stein Line. On Monday, Sixers coach Nick Nurse said that Embiid had undergone tests during the day and would undergo more on Tuesday, and, when asked about the possibility of shutting the star down, told reporters that they were “just not there yet as an organization.” On Wednesday, Nurse told reporters that there would be updates on the status of Embiid, forward Guerschon Yabusele and guard Eric Gordon in the next couple of days.
Gordon had surgery on his right wrist on Wednesday. The team announced Thursday that veteran will be out at least three months, which means his season is effectively over.
Embiid will not necessarily end up having his own season-ending surgery, but he is “hoping for some sort of cure-all procedure that would allow him to return to his MVP form,” according to the Stein Line. He has been dealing with pain and swelling in his left knee, but team president Daryl Morey said on Feb. 7 that, while Embiid’s recovery has been “slower than anyone’s anticipated,” Philadelphia is optimistic that “there will be a place in the future where the symptoms and that are reduced or go to zero,” based on conversations with experts. Embiid’s comments about surgery to ESPN’s Lisa Salters “took Sixers staffers by surprise,” per The Stein Line.
This season, Embiid has logged a total of 574 minutes in 19 appearances. Philly’s Big Three — Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey — have shared the floor for 294 minutes in 15 games. There are 24 games left in the regular season for the Sixers, and they are 2.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the final play-in spot.
They are also 2.5 games “behind” the Toronto Raptors in the race to the bottom, should they choose to pull the plug on the season. At the moment, they have the league’s sixth-worst record; if they finish in that spot, they will have a 45.8% chance of keeping their top-six-protected first-round pick. If they finish with the league’s fifth-worst record, they will have a 63.9% chance of keeping the pick. Toronto has far and away the easiest remaining schedule in the NBA — its opponents have a .369 cumulative winning percentage — and it will face Philadelphia on March 12 and March 30.
According to The Stein Line, there has been “no real indication” that Sixers coach Nick Nurse’s job is in jeopardy. Three weeks ago, Morey credited Nurse for bringing more out of Maxey as a defender, integrating young players into the rotation and keeping the team in position to “fight for the playoffs.”
As George said this week, the players’ commitment to that fight has wavered in recent games. As of now, though, the organization has not decided to pivot, and, more broadly, “still views Embiid as its franchise cornerstone,” per The Stein Line. At his post–trade deadline press conference, Morey said that Philadelphia plans to continue to build around Embiid “because he’s the special player that can help us win the championship,” adding that the front office thought signing him to a three-year max extension last summer “was the right move at the time” and “we think it’s right move now.”
Given that the Sixers haven’t won a game since that press conference, Embiid’s availability in the short term seems far less consequential than how his knee responds to whatever course of action he takes. Over time, can he actually get to a place where his symptoms “are reduced or go to zero?” Would surgery make that significantly more likely? If solving this problem were straightforward, all of this testing and consulting with medical experts wouldn’t be necessary.
