Friday afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers made the expected official: Joel Embiid is out for the remainder of the season.
“The Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid have been consulting with top specialists regarding ongoing issues with his left knee. After further evaluation, it has been determined that he is medically unable to play and will miss the remainder of the season to focus on treatment and rehabilitation. We are working with medical experts to determine the exact treatment plan.”
Due to swelling and pain in his left knee — the one he had meniscus surgery on just more than a year ago — Embiid has played only 19 games for Philadelphia this season. With Embiid having a setback every time he tried to play more, and with the 76ers sitting 12th in the East and 2.5 games back of the Bulls for the final play-in spot, it was time for the 76ers to shut down Embiid for the season. Do not be surprised if Paul George — who has admitted to playing through injuries this season — and other veteran Sixers also get extended breaks. Philadelphia currently has the sixth-worst record in the NBA, and they owe their first-round pick to Oklahoma City, but it’s top-six protected. Philly has motivation to shut it down for the season.
The question is, what is next for Embiid? The former MVP told Lisa Saulters of ABC that he thinks he will need another surgery, which echoes other reports that Embiid is looking for one kind of fix that will allow him to that MVP form. However, what Embiid told Saulters surprised the 76ers staff, and there has been no clear-cut solution that solves the problem (if there were, everybody would have been on board and it already would have been done).
More likely, this is a chronic condition that will need maintenance and will limit how much Embiid can play during the regular season in the future.
Embiid signed a three-year, $192.9 million contract extension with Philadelphia just before this season, which kicks in next season and is fully guaranteed. That contract is as untreatable as any in the NBA right now, Philly has to figure out a path with Embiid because there is no good way to trade him or pivot to another direction.
Philly is still all-in on Embiid, which means the two sides need to come to an understanding of what is best and chart a course forward.
