Joel Embiid’s NBA debut is starting to feel imminent.
This is perhaps irrational, since he won’t be playing in any summer league games and, thus, at the earliest won’t be suiting up in an official capacity until October 2016. So, technically, his debut is still a ways out. Still, he’s making substantial progress for the first time in what feels like forever. He has even started scrimmaging with the Philadelphia 76ers…sort of.
Per Bob Ford of Philly.com:
Embiid took entry passes and spun this way and that. He shot lefthanded. He shot righthanded. He did drop steps. He ducked under. He floated soft hooks through the net. He powered to the basket for dunks. Finally, he did a crossover dribble from right to left behind his legs, took one gigantic stride and rose above the rim, above everything, above all the upturned faces gaping at him, above the very limit of hope an NBA franchise can have in one player, and he brought the ball down through the rim with a crash.
I’m sorry, Bryan. What were you saying?
“You can see what he’s doing on the court,” Colangelo said, cocking his head toward Embiid. “It looks like he’s getting more fluidity every day. He’s done some things competitively, two-on-two and three-on-three in controlled situations, but the word ‘controlled’ is the key there. Everything’s got to be done within the process set forth and the timeline set forth by the doctors.”
Tightly monitored scrimmages aren’t typically portrayed as giant leaps forward. But it’s different for Embiid. He has missed his first two NBA seasons, and people are starting to forget how much fanfare surrounded him not too long ago.
If Embiid never suffered any of his injuries, it may have been him, not Andrew Wiggins, who went No. 1 in the 2014 draft. And think about how that would have impacted the NBA. He would be in Cleveland instead of Philadelphia. Well, he’d probably be in Minnesota, but that’s besides the point.
The Sixers have a potential superstar prospect on their hands. That he’s on the court, playing some form of basketball, however contrived, is most definitely a giant leap in the right direction.
