October 03, 2016
Over the weekend, all of the talk surrounding the Sixers centered on Ben Simmons’ injury and the extended absence that the top overall pick is staring at. And rightfully so, as it's a major development that reverberated around the entire NBA.
As a result of the Simmons news, other happenings around the team tended to slide under the radar. For example, one of the biggest subplots of training camp has been the team’s handling of Jahlil Okafor’s workload as the No. 3 overall pick returns from right knee surgery last March. Similar to Joel Embiid, Okafor was held out of around half of the team’s scrimmages at Stockton University due to “load management.”
So it wasn’t a total surprise that Brett Brown, citing the need to see Okafor in more “real-time situations” (scrimmaging) in practice, said that last year’s No. 3 overall pick will be held out of Tuesday’s preseason opener against the Boston Celtics.
“He’s been on a very sort of short leash in regards to what we’ve allowed him to do to be wise,” Brown said. “The endgame is, ‘How do we deliver a team, Jahlil being amongst that, to October the 26th on opening night?’”
With no Simmons or Okafor, all eyes will be on the team’s starting frontcourt that Brown plans to roll out in Amherst, Massachusetts: Dario Saric at the 4 and Embiid at the 5.
Embiid will be on a minutes limit that Brown wasn’t able to specifically put a number on, but it sounds like he doesn’t plan on easing the Kansas product into his first NBA action.
“I feel like I’m going to spend my money quick,” Brown said in reference to Embiid’s minutes. “Instead of nursing it, four minutes here and then four minutes two periods later, I think you just got to play him. And maybe you don’t have him for the second half, and that’s fine.”
When asked what he’s looking for from Embiid, Brown couldn’t come up anything specific. Instead, he chose to focus on the magnitude of the team’s top draft pick from two years ago finally getting on the court after missing what feels like an eternity.
“To watch him make multiple trips up a floor in a 76er uniform, I don’t care if it’s preseason, regular season, whatever,” Brown said. “For me personally, that’s something that we’ve all waited for a while and there’s just going to be a tremendous amount of pride with what he’s done to be able to do that.”
“I went through a lot of stuff to get here. I worked my ass off, and am happy that I'm finally here. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
The last game that Embiid played was in a Kansas uniform on March 1, 2014 against Oklahoma State. There have been many trials and tribulations for both the player and team since then.
“I went through a lot of stuff to get here,” Embiid said. “I worked my ass off, and am happy that I'm finally here. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Also making his Sixer debut is Saric, who was selected nine picks after Embiid in the 2014 NBA Draft. The 6’10” Croatian forward has been dealing with a bit of back soreness over the past few days, but he was a full participant in today’s practice.
Saric, who has undergone treatment, plans on playing against the Celtics. He feels that the preseason will help prepare him for the 82-game slog that lies ahead.
Saric has what Brown calls “a rich basketball background,” and that is certainly true. He’s already an experienced and accomplished international player, but still, this is Saric’s first taste of the sport’s highest level.
“I am very excited playing for the first time against an NBA team,” Saric said. “This first five, six, seven games will help me a lot to recognize what I will have during the season, what I will have during the first game.
“I think this six, seven games, I must find my rhythm before the season starts.”
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
