Do not expect to see Joel Embiid play this season.
The Sixers were willing to let Nerlens Noel sit out a full season after tearing an ACL, you think they’re going to play Embiid play next season after he just got two screws in the navicular bone of his right foot?
The original timeline for Embiid was 4-6 months of recovery, but Sixers GM Sam Hinkie that is going to be more like 5-8 months, as reported by CSNPhilly.com.
“Timeframe -- I’ve seen reported some 4 to 6 months -- that’s not the number that I’ve heard,” Hinkie said. “The number that I’ve heard from the surgeon himself was 5 to 8 months….
“Guess what our approach will be? We will focus on the long-term health of the player,” Hinkie said. “We’ve had this discussion before. ... It is all that matters, the long-term health of the player. Will we be smart about that? Of course. Will we be thoughtful about that? I hope so. Will we be patient? Yes. We will give him every chance to be as healthy as he can be.”
I picked the Sixers as winners in this draft and I stick by it — they got the one potentially transcendent star, a player who if he doesn’t reach that height likely still will be good. It’s a risk he never gets over the foot injury, but if you’re trying to build a future champion and not a future “49 wins and we made the second round” team then you need to take some risks. I like that they got Dario Saric as well, but again it is at least two seasons before he comes to the NBA. I feel for Sixers fans who intellectually understand what Hinkie is trying to build but are going to have to suffer through some more rough seasons to get there, but I like the path the Sixers are on. They are acquiring assets, the time to cash them in his not yet here.