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Sixers Cautious With Joel Embiid’s Injury

January 21st, 2017 at 10:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers aren’t releasing much information about Friday’s injury to rookie center Joel Embiid, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Embiid suffered a bruise on his left knee in the third quarter of a game with the Trail Blazers. He returned for part of the fourth quarter before being pulled with 8:50 left to play.

Before tonight’s game in Atlanta, the Sixers said they weren’t sure when Embiid will play again. It could be when they return home Tuesday or he could be held out longer. Embiid wasn’t scheduled to make the trip to Atlanta because it was the second game of a back-to-back.

“I don’t know,” coach Brett Brown said when asked when Embiid might return to action. “Like I say, I think we will learn more when we get back to Philadelphia.”

Pompey states that it appeared Embiid may have hyperextended his knee, which could put him out for about a week. An X-ray on the knee was taken Friday.

Teammate Nerlens Noel said Embiid was moving well after Friday’s game and expressed confidence that he won’t be out long.

“He’s good,” Noel said. “I think it was more about precautionary to leave him out [for the final 8:50 Friday]. He told me even before the game ended that he felt all right. … They just got to take care of him.”

Embiid’s history makes any injury worrisome. He missed his first two NBA seasons while trying to recover from a twice-broken bone in his right foot.

Atlantic Notes: Lopez, Acy, Embiid, Bradley

January 20th, 2017 at 7:11pm CST by Milo Taibi

Despite the Nets‘ current 11-game losing streak, veteran center Brook Lopez remains optimistic on the team’s outlook, claiming to “want to see something special built here,” according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The Nets, who don’t have control of their own first round draft pick until 2019, would seek two first round picks for Lopez, according to a recent report from Marc Stein of ESPN. Lewis confirms that asking price, but notes that Brooklyn isn’t actively looking to move the veteran center.

And-Ones: 2013 Draft, Bennett, Embiid

January 17th, 2017 at 9:55pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Cavs considered as many as six prospects for the No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft, but a number of factors led the team to pass on five of them and draft Anthony Bennett, as Sam Vecenie of The Sporting News details. Nerlens Noel and Alex Len were unable to work out for Cleveland due to injury. Otto Porter and Victor Oladipo were viewed as players with limited ceilings, which didn’t entice the team and Ben McLemore showed up to workouts overweight and unprepared, which took him out of the running for the No. 1 overall pick.

An anonymous league executive tells Vecenie that the lack of quality options at the top of the draft led the Cavs “to talk themselves into a guy they knew had flaws.”

“As they were getting down to the end, I think [GM Chris Grant] wanted to find a reason for him to be the guy,” the executive told Vecenie.

Here’s more from around the league:

One anonymous scout within the league believes the Cavs never got the full story on Bennett when they conducted their pre-draft research, Vecenie writes in the same piece. “I don’t think they got the full scoop on [Bennett],” a scout told Vecenie “UNLV’s staff would say nice things about people. They tolerate a lot. The Cavs got a rosy version of his work ethic and attitude.”
Joel Embiid has been impressive lately, though that doesn’t mean the Sixers will lift his minutes restriction this year, as Tom Moore of Calkins Media relays (Twitter link). “I don’t believe there is a possibility Embiid’s minutes increase from 28 minutes this season,” coach Brett Brown said today.
The Blazers are in the midst of a disappointing season, but they are not a candidate to tank and position themselves for a better draft choice, Mike Richman of The Oregonian argues in his latest podcast. Richman believes the team has too much talent to lose enough games to make tanking a worthwhile cause.

Sixers Notes: Simmons, Okafor, Noel, Embiid

January 7th, 2017 at 6:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Injured rookie Ben Simmons has started traveling with the Sixers and has intensified his workouts, according to Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Still recovering from the right foot fracture he suffered in September, Simmons ran sprints and shot jumpers before Friday’s game at Boston. “Because it’s starting to get into a new year and we’re seeing him without the boot and slowly integrated with the team, this is a part of it, including him on the road,” said coach Brett Brown. “At times, we have a physiotherapist and a better plan at home if we’re on really long road trips. It’s a sign that, you know, not too far away, we can see him and start integrating him more and more and more. This is the first small step to doing that.”

There’s more news out of Philadelphia:

Jahlil Okafor is the latest big man to fall out of the Sixers’ rotation, relays Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Okafor never got off the bench Friday, even as Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel were in foul trouble. Pompey notes that Okafor doesn’t fit the team’s new emphasis on defense, but adds that the Sixers can’t decide how to manage their three young big men. “There’s a body of work now that is enough to make some assumptions, some decisions in a more reasonable way,” Brown said after Friday’s game. “It’s not like we all just met each other. We’ve been doing this for a while. The great challenge is sometimes pairings aren’t as successful as you wish they were.”
The most painful part of the Sixers’ rebuilding project appears to be over, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Philadelphia is a virtual lock to miss the playoffs again, but Washburn says the development of Embiid is one of many reasons for hope. The franchise will have room to offer two max contracts this summer and may get the Lakers’ first-round pick in addition to its own.
Embiid is part of a young crop of versatile, mobile centers who are changing the way the game is being played, states Michael Lee of The Vertical. Embiid is also campaigning to have the center position returned to the All-Star ballot. They were mixed in with frontcourt players in 2013. “I feel like they should put the centers back. We’ve got a lot of talent,” Embiid said. “There’s a lot of talented centers in the league. That’s on [the NBA] to do that. But my job here is to keep playing basketball and be the best I can be and push them to make that decision to put the center back on the All-Star ballot.”

And-Ones: Big Men, San Francisco, Designated Veterans

January 6th, 2017 at 7:49pm CST by Austin Kent

The NBA has changed dramatically over the years, especially within the last five seasons as teams have moved away from banging in the paint in order to field lineups that do more damage than ever beyond the three-point line. Zach Lowe of ESPN wonders if the style shift could endanger traditional big men.

“Post-up bigs who can’t shoot threes or defend smaller players — Greg Monroe, Jahlil Okafor, Al Jefferson, Enes Kanter, Nikola Vucevic — have already been relegated to bench roles,” he writes.

In addition to that, other prominent traditional bigs have had to bolster their games with new, modern weapons. Both Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol have significantly increased the amount of threes they shoot, lest they fall behind the times.

The shifting tide is of particular significance to Brett Brown and the Sixers as Joel Embiid comes into his own during his rookie campaign with Philadelphia. Bob Ford of The Inquirer wrote about questions facing the organization as they double down on a young man whose physical makeup conjures memories of a bygone era:

Fortunately for the Philly faithful who’ve trusted the process, Brown has had years to plan for exactly that.

“Our sport is a pick-and-roll sport,” Brown tells Ford. “And, at the end of the day, it’s a 1-5 pick-and-roll. So, let’s load up. When it’s nut-cutting time with two minutes left, that’s what matters most. You might say, ‘Joel can’t play with speed.’ Yes, he can. He can play with speed enough.”

Only time will tell how this modern style will evolve over the years, for now it’s a trend worth monitoring as teams across the league scramble to keep up.

Sixers Notes: Okafor, Embiid, Ilyasova

January 1st, 2017 at 2:10pm CST by Will Joseph

The Sixers are stuck in an unenviable situation of having two big men thought to be future standout performers playing the same position who struggle while on the court together. Indeed, the roster problem that having centers Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor presents is nothing new for the Sixers, but it is now evident that the experiment is taking its toil on the franchise, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. It is obvious that the team struggles when the two players share the court, but the Sixers have had trouble trading Okafor and Noel for what it perceives as equal value, Pompey adds. What’s more, the value of Okafor and Embiid will continue to dip if they are not on the court, thus making the situation quirkier and more problematic, Pompey notes. The Sixers are 1-5 in games they have both started and for specific reasons why the duo has not meshed, it is worth giving Pompey’s piece a read.

Here is more out of Philadelphia:

In a lineup that does seem to work, Embiid and power forward Ersan Ilyasova played well off of each other, Pompey writes in the same piece, and it will be interesting to see if Ilyasova’s role is increased. Ilyasova was acquired in a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 1st.
Robert Covington has struggled with his shot this season, but erupted during the second half of Friday’s game after receiving a boost of confidence from Sixers coach Brett Brown, Brian Seltzer of NBA.com relays. Covington will make slightly over $1.0MM this season and the team holds an option worth roughly $1.1MM for the 2017/18 campaign.

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Okafor, Noel, McConnell

December 30th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers may be ready to abandon their experiment of pairing Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor in the starting lineup, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The move has come under heavy criticism as Philadelphia is just 1-5 with both big men starting. Pompey notes that the pairing forces Embiid to play out of position at power forward, where he has looked uncomfortable on offense and often gets pulled away from the basket on defense. Embiid sat out Thursday’s game at Utah because it was the first of a back-to-back, and coach Brett Brown wouldn’t commit to starting him and Okafor tonight in Denver. “We’ll figure that out,” Brown said. “I feel like when you study the numbers, look at gut feel, it has not been, at the moment, successful.”

There’s more this morning out of Philadelphia:

Backup big man Nerlens Noel played 22 minutes Thursday, the most court time he has seen this season, according to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. Since returning from a knee injury, Noel has been unhappy with his lack of minutes and has been a frequent critic of the team’s abundance of big men. While he is considered a likely candidate to be traded before the February 23rd deadline, Noel is trying to help the team however he can while still in Philadelphia. “I’m just thankful,” Noel said. “Coach gave me an opportunity and I wanted to go out there and play my game. That’s what my focus was the whole night. Whenever I was in there, I wanted to contribute to the team’s winning efforts. When I wasn’t, I wanted to support my teammates to the best of my ability.”
Injuries have left T.J. McConnell as the only healthy point guard for tonight’s game, Pompey writes in a separate story. A sprained left ankle suffered by Sergio Rodriguez means McConnell will be in the starting lineup tonight, with shooting guard Nik Stauskas as his backup. What looked to be a position of strength in training camp has been decimated by Ben Simmons‘ broken foot and Jerryd Bayless‘ season-ending wrist surgery.
Thursday’s Sixers-Jazz game was a reminder of the impact of international basketball, Pompey states in another story. The teams have a combined 14 players on their rosters from outside the United States. “Basketball is all over the world,” said Turkish native Ersan Ilyasova. “Obviously in Europe, it’s still more like a soccer thing. But still, a lot of kids play and follow basketball, especially the NBA.”

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Lin, Sixers, Anthony

December 29th, 2016 at 6:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors have two very difficult decisions looming in their pursuit of the top spot in the Eastern Conference, Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post opines. They must decide whether to go all-in this season in their quest to knock off the Cavs, which would mean trading off some young pieces for another impact player, preferable a power forward, Bontemps continues. The Magic’s Serge Ibaka and Hawks’ Paul Millsap — forwards that the Raptors have pursued in the past and will become free agents this summer — would be logical targets, in Bontemps’ view. This summer, they’ll have to decide whether to offer point guard and impending free agent Kyle Lowry a max five-year deal worth over $200MM or risk seeing him walk. Lowry will attract numerous suitors but his age — he turns 31 this spring — could make a long-term commitment a risky investment, Bontemps adds.

In other news around the Atlantic Division:

The Nets are taking a committee approach with point guard Jeremy Lin sidelined again by a hamstring injury, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports. Coach Kenny Atkinson is rotating Randy Foye, rookie Isaiah Whitehead and Spencer Dinwiddie in Lin’s absence, while shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick is also taking a bigger role in the playmaking duties, Lewis continues. “I think it was ensemble,” Atkinson told Lewis and other media members. “That’s how we’re going to do it.”
The Sixers’ frontcourt pairing of Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor has been a colossal failure defensively thus far, as Derek Bodner of Phillymag.com details. In six games since coach Brett Brown paired the two big men in the starting lineup, the Sixers have given up an average of 122.3 points per 100 possessions when they’re on the court. What’s more troubling, as Bodner notes, is that the poor defensive performances have come against sub-par offensive teams.
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek doesn’t believe Carmelo Anthony should have been ejected on Tuesday for swinging his forearm at the head of Hawks swingman Thabo Sefolosha, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. Hornacek asserted that Sefolosha grabbed Anthony around the neck before the forearm swing, though Berman notes that was not apparent on replays while labeling Hornacek’s stance as bizarre. “I don’t blame [Anthony] for what happened, honestly,” Hornacek told Berman. “Watch the replay, watch the action. The guy had his arms wrapped around his neck. … What are you going to do? Just stand there or you going to get the guy off you? It’s a natural reaction.”

And-Ones: Booker, Embiid, Karl

December 27th, 2016 at 9:22pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Nets landed Trevor Booker during the offseason by selling him on the opportunity to expand his role, as he tells Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (video link). Booker said the Hornets, Magic, Suns, Mavericks and Wolves were among the teams to reach out to him, but his relationship with GM Sean Marks made him feel comfortable joining Brooklyn.

Here’s more from around the league:

Joe Harris is enjoying the opportunity to play for the Nets, as he tells Scotto in a separate piece (video link). Harris, who signed with Brooklyn on a two-year deal during the offseason, is seeing a career-high 23.5 minutes per game this season.
Joel Embiid is the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award, but it’s partly due to the struggles of the 2016 rookie class, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders details. Kennedy notes that there isn’t a single 2016 draft pick who is averaging at least 10.0 points per game.
In his book, George Karl claims that the NBA has a steroid issue, suggesting that performance-enhancers are the reason that players have longer careers in today’s NBA, as Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays. It’s worth noting that in the book, Karl doesn’t present specific evidence of any particular player using PEDs nor does the former coach even acknowledge the advances in league-approved medicine or the increased awareness in players’ dietary needs, both of which have been proven to increase the length of an average career.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Porzingis, Powell, Sixers

December 22nd, 2016 at 9:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics will include one of their main backcourt pieces if they make a major trade, Chris Mannix of The Vertical anticipates. Boston will have trouble affording the quartet of Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier in the long run and can’t add an impact player without shedding one or more of them, Mannix continues. Smart is eligible for an extension next summer and will command a starting salary of at least $10MM, while Thomas and Bradley can become free agents in the summer of 2018. It will take a good chunk of the salary cap to retain both, in Mannix’s view. The starting backcourt can also have their contracts renegotiated this summer but Mannix is skeptical that GM Danny Ainge would eat into future cap space to make that happen.

In other developments around the Atlantic Division:

Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis and other players with rookie contracts will get a significant boost in pay once the new CBA is ratified, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Porzingis will receive a 15% increase next season and a 30% bump in the final year of his four-year rookie-scale deal, Berman continues. Sources informed Berman that Porzingis’ revised salary will increase from $4.5MM to $5.1MM next season and from $5.6MM to $7.3MM in 2018/19.
The Raptors need another elite player to become true title contenders but they should try to hold onto shooting guard Norm Powell, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun opines. Powell has the ability to play three positions and could play some minutes at point guard if Toronto includes current backup Cory Joseph in a blockbuster deal, Wolstat continues. In any case, coach Dwane Casey should try to give Powell, 23, more consistent minutes, Wolstat adds.
Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor will continue to start together in the Sixers’ frontcourt during their upcoming West Coast swing, Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com reports. According to Seltzer’s research, that duo has 52 shared minutes over the Sixers’ last four contests, producing an offensive rating of 95.0 points per 100 possessions, and a defensive rating of 113.3 points per 100 possessions.