Joel Embiid Is the Ultimate Test For the Philadelphia 76ers

Oct 30, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Injured Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid leans on his crutches while watching warm ups against the Utah Jazz at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Convalescence or Lack Of Commitment?

Nothing has been more representative of the elements of Sam Hinkie’s strategy in patiently assembling an NBA championship roster than the case study of Joel Embiid. No other draft selection, no other resulting experience. No other misfortune, mishap, or misdemeanor. When the Philadelphia 76ers selected Joel Embiid with the third pick of the 2014 NBA draft, that moment was perhaps the clearest vantage point into the mind of the close vested general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers.

A top rated prospect, who was coming off foot surgery – an indication that he suffered the same crippling risks as many NBA players whose careers have ended prematurely with bad feet.  A freshman center whose upside is literally off the charts in terms of what he could translate into on both the offensive and defensive side of the basketball court, but at a position where the team had already drafted a very gifted young man in Nerlens Noel.

A powerful player with a track record of physicality, but who arrived almost off of a gurney and was delivered directly to the team’s rehab for two years running.  Why would a general manager who is trying to build a championship team subject himself and his team to a plethora of unknowns and uncalculable risks?  Because Sam Hinkie is in his natural element when playing the odds, when he looks at the rewards and the inherent risks and instantly sees the path he needs to take to optimize the wager.

But when a second surgery was announced as necessary to promote a full recovery of the bone that had not healed after a year’s time, the question of whether the bone could be healed came into play.  So did the intergrity of the first recovery plan.

Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer had a good piece on this subject.  He pointed out the fact that Joel had lost his younger brother in October of 2014, and was denied the most productive coping strategy available to the young basketball player: playing basketball.  So 6,000 miles from home, separated from family, he was relegated to anti-gravity treadmill kept his heart rate up, but did not prevent the young man from putting on an additional 50 pounds of weight.

"The Sixers are trying to address the added weight. Embiid, however, hasn’t always been a willing workout participant, according to sources. He’s even blown off conditioning drills, one source added. An altercation with Davis during the West Coast trip, coupled with Brown’s wanting him to be in “more of a structured, stable environment,” pushed the Sixers to send him home, the sources said. Because he’s not practicing, Embiid is unable to give his side of the story. Maybe that’s all for the best. Brown said Embiid “has been good trying to get back on track with his conditioning.” The Sixers don’t want to rush the third overall pick onto the court. It’s also believed they would be content if he missed the entire season, as Nerlens Noel (knee surgery) did last season. That’s understandable. Embiid was a health risk even before the Sixers drafted him. A stress fracture in his lower back kept him out of the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments last winter. Still, he was projected to go No. 1 until a stress fracture in his right foot was diagnosed the week before the draft. He had surgery June 20 and was expected to be sidelined up to eight months. – per Keith Pompey in Inside the Sixers: Questions surround Embiid’s conditioning, maturity article January 19, 2015"

We had plenty of our own discussions about Joel Embiid, and detailed out events before and during the second surgery.

Josh Wilson began the coverage in his article on An Update On Joel Embiid’s Foot Surgery. I followed up with that with Embiid Update II and Embiid Update III.  In fact, it’s become a pattern of writing and debating the player who has yet to stand on the basketball court in a Philadelphia 76er’s jersey during a game.   That is the upside, the chatter, and the power of Sam Hinkie’s strategy of finding team changing players from the recycle bin.  But once he finds them, Sam Hinkie takes ownership of the recovery process.

But for now, we find ourselves chained to status updates. So let me reassure you, the recovery is going well this time. Or better yet, I’ll let the CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers tell you himself.

"“Our doctors are saying it’s going ahead of schedule, but at the end of the day we know we have to show you and not just tell you. I will tell you that he is an elite talent, and I think he will be an elite player in this league.” – Scott O’Neil, CEO Philadelphia 76ers"

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