March 04, 2019
Joel Embiid rejoined the Sixers at practice on Monday morning, marking the first time he has been with the full group since being ruled out for a week on February 20. Whether he'll be available for Tuesday's game against the Orlando Magic, however, is another matter entirely.
"That does not mean [he's going to play tomorrow]," Brett Brown told reporters on Monday afternoon. "Might it mean it? Maybe. But I feel like sort of stepping back and figuring stuff out, and the list that will come out at five will give everybody information on all of our players and their statuses for tomorrow."
The Sixers released a lengthy injury update at practice on Monday, sharing that Jimmy Butler missed Monday's session, among others:
Full update from Sixers practice. pic.twitter.com/8FBSrSq8CX
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) March 4, 2019
News on the availability of the larger group will come later Monday, but Embiid's health is obviously of critical importance. The Sixers need him to get up to speed and build chemistry with his new teammates, and he can't do that from the sideline.
To that end, Brown told reporters that you can already feel a bit of rust setting in with Embiid on the shelf. Despite how concerning that may seem with the team headed for a playoff run, Brown did not hesitate when asked why Embiid's time on the sideline has gone on a little longer than the team initially projected.
"He just doesn't feel like he's ready to go. He really does feel restricted with some of his movements, there's a little bit of soreness, I think, still. You can see in this practice environment that he hasn't played for a while. And so it's just, it is what it is," Brown said. "I can tell you what I saw today in practice — you can tell that he has not played basketball in a while."
Embiid's health and conditioning are at the center of the story for this franchise. Last summer was the first healthy offseason he has had of his career, and the benefits have been obvious this year, with Embiid putting up MVP-like numbers for most of the season. It's obviously not ideal to have everything grind to a halt midseason.
Embiid himself dismissed the seriousness of the problem last Saturday when he spoke to reporters, claiming that he would be back soon and that his time on the bench was about preserving for the playoffs. But Embiid, as he has in the past, also brought up how quickly he can get out of shape and the impact that has on his game.
And while the Sixers will not put a minutes restriction on him upon his return — they all believe those days are behind him — Brown admitted they may have to alter their previous rotations as they get him back up to speed.
"I'm going to have to be responsible with how we integrate him back. As far as the minutes that equals, we all get the role he will play once he's on the floor," Brown said Monday. "None of us are going to be able to guess what the minute accumulation will be. I'm going to learn about how I'm going to play him from a rotation standpoint. What's the tolerance of his clumps of minutes, is it five-minute clumps or seven-minute clumps like it used to be?"
"The wish obviously will be to just get him in a playing rhythm, a consistent playing rhythm, get him his 34 minutes, and let him play with his team for as much as the remaining 19 games that we have."
It does not help Philadelphia that they have been missing another center, Boban Marjanovic, for a chunk of the period Embiid has been absent. While Boban is not a like-for-like replacement for Embiid (and who is?), he is in a more traditional center mold than the other backup options, which allowed the Sixers to keep some semblance of continuity as they build for the playoffs.
Boban made a brief cameo at Monday's practice, sauntering out from the locker room to toss up a couple of shots in view of the media. He had no braces or any equipment of note on his lower body, but Brown indicated that their initial timeline of 5-7 days may end up being a bit optimistic.
"I think we all should bunker in that it's going to be longer than we all wish," Brown said of Boban.
The Sixers have a busy week this week, with a back-to-back against Orlando and Chicago on Monday and Tuesday, before national TV appearances against the Rockets and Pacers later in the week. That Sunday afternoon meeting with Indiana has huge implications for the playoff race, with the Sixers looming just a half game back of the Pacers for the No. 3 seed in the East.
Getting Embiid back, even if in a more limited role right away, would go a long way toward helping them make one final push. At the very least, they need to get him back up to full speed by mid-April, so the sooner he can make a return, the better.
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