Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Bolden, Tatum

While the team has not offered up an official date at which Joel Embiid will be cleared to play in back-to-backs, the Sixers center would like to do so by the end of the month, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes.

Embiid, who was voted in as an All-Star Game starter earlier today, has averaged 23.8 points and 10.9 rebounds per game for the Sixers this season, but has only played in 31 of the team’s 40 contests.

Through the first three months of the regular season, the Sixers have played five sets of back-to-backs and in each game, Embiid has missed at least one match.

“I just need not to take days off,” Embiid said. “It’s not on me. It’s on the [Sixers’] medical staff. But hopefully, back-to-backs by the end of this month, I will be allowed to play.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

• The Celtics appear to have landed a gem in rookie Jayson Tatum. Chris Forsberg of ESPN recently profiled the 19-year-old forward, painting a picture of how Tatum’s confidence and poise have served him just as well as his length and athleticism have so far in his young career.
• A feature by The Athletic’s Rich Hoffman profiles Sixers‘ draft-and-stash prospect Jonah Bolden. The 36th pick in the 2017 draft was named the Adriatic League’s Top Prospect, an award that Dario Saric and Nikola Jokic also earned during their stints there.
• Despite a breakout year with the Nets, Joe Harris hasn’t concerned himself with the fact that he’ll be a free agent in the summer. “I love playing for [head coach Kenny Atkinson]”, Harris told Sam Blum of The Daily Progress. “I love the teammates that we have and everybody else that’s in the organization. We have a lot of great people, top to bottom. I really don’t think about that stuff a whole lot. I focus on trying to get better here collectively and individually and just enjoying it while I can.“