The Joel Embiid injury-update train remains at a standstill.
The Philadelphia 76ers opened training camp on Monday with Media Day. General manager Bryan Colangelo was, naturally, asked about the health of Embiid, who appeared in just 31 games last season before being shut down with a meniscus injury. And, well, let’s just say the information he provided was suboptimal, per CSN’s Marshall Harris:
BC: Joel is doing well but is not quite cleared for 5-on-5.
— Marshall Harris (@mharrisonair) September 25, 2017
With this said, the Sixers do feel that Embiid is on track to be ready for the regular season, according to the Philly Inquirer‘s Keith Pompey:
The Sixers feel Joel Embiid is on course for the regular season.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) September 25, 2017
At least, it seems like that’s what said stance means. We can’t be too sure. With the Sixers, you can never really know anything.
Embiid’s meniscus injury, remember, was considered minor and standard at the time. But then he missed the rest of the season. The Sixers can, and should, take extra precautions with their big man, who missed the first two years of his career due to injury. But the lack of transparency is bizarre here.
Jahlil Okafor, for the record, isn’t playing five-on-five just yet, either. Maybe that’s why the Sixers signed Kris Humphries and Emeka Okafor—bigs they don’t need. Their rotation changes if neither Okafor nor Embiid is ready to rock.
Yes, for now, it sounds like the Sixers expect Embiid to be a good very soon. But if we’ve learned anything about the health of Embiid and Philly’s approach to his status, it’s that we need to see him on the court, in uniform, during a real game, before we can be sure everything is actually fine.
