When Can We Expect to See Joel Embiid Play?

Joel Embiid hasn’t played competitive basketball in a long time. When can we expect to see him on the floor?

Joel Embiid was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the third pick in the draft in 2014, coming up on two years ago. Since then, Embiid has yet to play a single game in the NBA.

Embiid was supposed to, and is still supposed to be a hugely relevant piece of the Sixers’ rebuild. His 7’2″ frame should give him immense advantages over his defenders, and he is supposed to come in attaining a highly athletic skill-set that allows him to do things some other big men his size couldn’t do. That is, if he ever plays.

Embiid is currently in the midst of his second season as a paid NBA player, and still has not played a single game. The Sixers knew when they drafted him that he would not be available for the first year, but they didn’t anticipate the road block of him missing a second season.

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At some point — the time of diagnosis and when the Sixers were made aware of the happenings with Embiid’s left foot is debated — the Sixers realized that Embiid would need a second surgery, the same surgery he had before his first season as an NBA player. It would repair the navicular bone in his left foot.

Last year, we got to watch him recover and warm up pre-game, often leaving fans in awe with high-flying dunks that were fun to watch. This year, he’s been showing us range and hitting 3-pointers pre-game like it’s no big deal.

He’s been one of the most talked about Sixers on the roster, even though he hasn’t played a competitive basketball game since March 1st, 2014. Two years ago almost exactly.

So, will we ever see Embiid? His recovery, and the path of his recovery, has been diminished by reports of him drinking pitchers of Shirley Temple at a time and indulging in fatty snacks. But, his recovery has been watched and headed up by big names in sport medicine. The Sixers know what they are doing, and they are making sure Embiid will eventually play for them.

Just looking at the timeline of events with Embiid, a lot has happened for this player who hasn’t played a single game yet. Additionally, a lot has happened for a kid who is very far from home. The Sixers are helping him feel more at home though, scheduling parts of his rehabilitation closer to home than Philly, at Qatar in an Aspetar Clinic.

Our own Bret Stuter highlighted “why Aspetar.”

"Well, we had investigated the Aspetar Sports Clinic upon learning of Joel Embiid’s initial visit. This is not just a hospital, but rather an intensive clinic which boards and monitors the 24 hour cycle of each and every patient. More intensive than the individualized treatments available in most professional sports teams, this is a full room and board boot camp, designed to be a 100% controlled environment that measures inputs, outputs, activity, healing process, stresses, and graphical trends that can be tracked and analyzed."

And of course, a TrueHoop article detailed why David Martin was an incredible choice for the Sixers medical staff. Martin had largely previously only worked with olympic athletes. His interview process was months long according to TrueHoop.

Martin is a smart guy, and has a unique approach to rehab with Embiid.

"Imagine a university trying to decide where to build sidewalks for its students, he says. Where would you lay down the cement? Rather than concoct a blueprint, Martin says it’s smarter to sit back and watch the students create their own paths on a grassy field. Once the natural flow creates beaten trails, the pavement goes down over it."

Martin is here for the team, but he knows that his main priority is Embiid. Embiid has been looked at as a major project for the team, and a priority. They could have looked at Embiid and his re-injury and requirement to have a second surgery as a bad thing, but they embraced it, looking to finally get him on the floor. After all, he was once a top 3 pick.

I’ve been skeptical of Embiid ever playing a game, but if the dedication to rehabbing Embiid continues like it has, I’m confident we’ll see him on the floor, and likely next season.

Next: Brett Brown Acknowledging Tough Fits Ahead

I don’t think Embiid will play Summer League. I also think it would be premature to play him in the preseason. I think a few weeks into the regular season, we will see him finally play, but in a very limited capacity. We just have to hope that all the effort going into rehabbing Embiid works out.