Philadelphia 76ers: 3 positives of Joel Embiid’s hand injury

There may be some positives to come out of Joel Embiid’s absence due to injury.  

With the injury of a torn radial collateral ligament in his left hand, the Philadelphia 76ers will be without Joel Embiid with no timetable for his return. The recovery on such an injury typically takes around 3-12 weeks.

This injury may have come at one of the worst times in the season for the Sixers, but I mean there isn’t really an optimal time for the best player on the team to get injured. One of my New Years’ resolutions this year was to be more optimistic, so what better way to exercise this resolution than by thinking of the positives of Embiid’s injury.

3. Simmons can step up 

Ben Simmons has had to step up majorly in the absence of Embiid in many games before. But now we’ll truly get to see him prove why he is irreplaceable, trustworthy, and able to run the court every night.

There have been always been a lot of negative comments towards the six-foot-ten Australian. People saying that he can’t control the game without the help of Embiid and that without a jump shot he’s nothing. This now gives him the opportunity to step into the number one spot on the team for an extended period of time. We’ll get to see how he can help his teammates up their level of play and also how he can step up his role on the defensive end.