Sixers Notes: Embiid, Harris, Playoffs, Edwards, George

ABC/ESPN’s Lisa Salters reported on Sunday that Sixers center Joel Embiid said he would likely require another surgery and an extended recovery period to deal with his troublesome left knee, which has been bothering him for more than a year.

A team source tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer that Embiid and the 76ers have consulted with a half-dozen knee specialists about the injury. The same source tells Pompey that Embiid does not currently require surgery and he’s able to play as long as he can manage the pain and swelling.

When asked about his knee after the game, Embiid didn’t outright say that he would eventually need surgery, but he certainly didn’t dispute the report’s veracity.

“I think everybody knows I want to play and I’m trying to do my best,” Embiid said. “At some point, if that keeps being inconsistent as it’s been, you’ve got to try something. … I’m extremely confident and fully confident. I just haven’t had enough time.”

As Pompey notes, Embiid rushed back from meniscus surgery last season to help Philadelphia make a playoff push. He then had a truncated offseason in which helped Team USA win a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, though he wore a brace the entire tournament and wasn’t moving as well as he has in the past.

“No one knew it was going to be like this,” Embiid said. “After the surgery, I didn’t have enough time. I came back for the playoffs. And then after the Olympics, then right back to the regular season.

“So I think at some point, I probably just need to just, especially when the summer comes around, we are going to get those few months and just recover for me. As I say, I don’t know what it is. But if that keeps being the same pattern, obviously you’ve got to try something else.”

For now, Embiid says he’s just taking things one day at a time while dealing with the knee issue, according to Pompey. The 30-year-old big man has only appeared in 16 of Philadelphia’s 52 games this season.

Here’s more on the Sixers:

• Sixers owner Josh Harris is optimistic the team will make a playoff run in 2024/25 despite a disastrous start to the season, as Pompey relays. “Listen, we got Joel [healthy],” Harris said Sunday. “When Joel, Tyrese [Maxey], and Paul [George] are all on the court, we are a great team. So we got to keep everyone healthy. In particular, Joel is a warrior. I know he’s fighting through some stuff, and I’m really optimistic that we are going to make a playoff run now.” Harris made the comments after the trade deadline and before Sunday’s loss to Milwaukee, which dropped Philadelphia to 20-32 on the season, one-and-a-half games behind Chicago for the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers are now 7-5 when Embiid, Maxey and George are all active.
• Rookie wing Justin Edwards, a Philadelphia native and former top high school recruit, went undrafted last June out of Kentucky before signing a two-way deal with the Sixers. The 21-year-old has been one of the bright spots amid a disappointing season and recently had his contract converted to a standard deal. He said he was unfazed by the promotion, per Pompey. “I just show that I belong here, honestly,” Edwards said. “Like nothing really changed. You know, it was just my work ethic and the way I approach the game. So it’s really about it, honestly.”
• The Sixers have been inconsistent all season for a variety of reasons, including injuries. That’s particularly true of free agent addition George, who dealing with a left pinky injury and has struggled in games he’s played thus far with Embiid, Pompey writes in another story for The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I feel like we haven’t found the synergy slash energy with that group,” head coach Nick Nurse said regarding George playing alongside Embiid and Maxey. “Yet when it’s just him and Tyrese, there is more of a pop. That’s just on us needing some time. But it’s also just on our guys being in the right mindset. It’s going to be different. I don’t think you can let your energy drop. I think that’s what we struggled with.”