With a 2-5 record,the Philadelphia 76ers are not looking like a playoff team just yet. But by the time Joel Embiid hits his 50th game? Perhaps. Which team will Joel Embiid face at number 50?
The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot riding on this year. Similarly, so does center Joel Embiid. And as of today, October 30, 2017, Embiid has just 36 NBA games under his belt. So far, the team is just two wins and four losses in the first six games. Will things improve? Well likely yes.
But there is that underlying current of how many games will Joel Embiid play this season. Some numbers tossed around before the season started suggested Embiid needed 60 games played this season for the 76ers to have a chance at post season. Since Embiid ended last season at 31 games, it’s never too early nor too late to speculate about his durability.
Say, for instance, when will he play his 50th game? As of right now, with the presumption he will not play back-to-back games, that 50th game appears to be against the Washington Wizards at home on November 29, 2017.
By that time, the team may have more wins under the belt, but the schedule continues to be savage. Through November 2017, the team will be bombarded by NBA playoff caliber teams. As for Joel Embiid? He is already over 20 points per game, and he gets better all the time. Is 25 PPG a good guess for his 50th game? Well, 25 PPG, 12 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game sounds like a nice place to be early in the season. His average minutes per game, now at 27.6, could approach 29 minutes per game by then too.
Playing time is hard to find now
It seems like years ago that the Philadelphia 76ers were searching for that “first piece” for a championship team. With Embiid so productive, and the team realizing the potential of Ben Simmons, the roster has suddenly become much more restricted as to which players get playing time. Raw talent, like that of Furkan Korkmaz, must borrow his time from the Delaware 87ers. Players like Nik Stauskas and Jahlil Okafor are simply finding no opportunity to play.
While that may seem disappointing to many fans, the flipside is that the team has found two pieces in Embiid and Simmons. While this roster is still “under construction”, the foundation of the future is here now. So the team can be selective. Not every player who can score is versatile enough for this team.
Consequently, the faces we are familiar with may not remain with this squad. After all, the team has at least three players overseas who are eager to do the 76ers jersey. The future holds a lot of promise.
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But the present is filled with a steep climb, and much of that climb depends on the durability of Joel Embiid. Will he play his 50th game in November 2017? Perhaps it will not happen until December 2017. But for the Philadelphia 76ers to get to the NBA Playoffs, they will need plenty of Joel Embiid on the basketball court. And so, the sooner he plays his 50th game, the better. Which team will that be?
Whichever team it is, hopefully the 76ers come away with a win.