It's been painfully obvious that the Philadelphia 76ers' depth at the center position is incredibly thin. As impressive as Mike Gansey's roster-building has been this past offseason, the 76ers are going to run into some trouble as early as Sunday night for two reasons.
One, Joel Embiid is more than likely going to sit out. Considering the Detroit Pistons matchup is the second leg of a back-to-back set, Embiid already told the public that he's not going to play both games this weekend. After checking in for 36 minutes against the Milwaukee Bucks, Embiid will likely get a rest night on Sunday.
The second reason is that the co-backup center/power forward Jabari Walker is now dealing with a possible injury. After checking in for 12 minutes off the bench, Walker left the game limping due to a "tweaked" right knee. There are no further details on the setback. While a tweak doesn't seem like anything too severe, the Sixers are facing a quick turnaround, which could affect Walker's status.
The state of the center depth
Entering training camp, the Sixers had Adem Bona recovering from a foot injury. He finally made his debut at the start of the regular season after missing the entire preseason. The 76ers hoped that Ariel Hukporti would share minutes with Bona, but the veteran went down with an Achilles injury just minutes into his preseason debut.
As for Tacko Fall, he is currently nursing an injury that forced him to miss the entire preseason, along with the first three games of the regular season. The veteran big man hasn't returned to the court for practice just yet, which suggests he has a slim chance of returning to make his debut on Sunday.
With all of the true bigs on the roster outside of Joel Embiid and Bona dealing with setbacks, Nick Nurse has had to rely on Jabari Walker and LeBron James at the position. While the Sixers are looking forward to getting LeBron back for Sunday night after his night off, Walker could be in danger of missing the matchup. The Sixers would have to call on more Bona minutes, along with adding more to LeBron's plate, and utilizing Dean Wade at the five if he plays to complete the back-to-back.
Leading up to Saturday's action, Walker totaled just seven minutes on the court. The Sixers were willing to nearly double that playing time against the Bucks, as they needed him in multiple roles with LeBron out. Walker left the game with six points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
The 76ers defeated the Bucks 127-116. They are set to face the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.
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