Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will miss Game 2 of the team's second-round series against the New York Knicks. It's a disheartening development that unfortunately continues a trend that's now lasted three seasons of Embiid missing an alarming amount of time.
Though Embiid is still elite when healthy, there's no way around what his latest injury means: The 76ers need to draft a center in 2026.
Just in: Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has been ruled out for Game 2 tonight against the New York Knicks due to ankle and hip injuries, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/eJm0W04R3G
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 6, 2026
Philadelphia has added talent at center, but neither Adem Bona nor Andre Drummond have yet looked the part of an ideal complement to Embiid. Both are talented and even productive, but it's fair to argue that the 76ers need a backup who can start a rather large number of games per season.
Embiid has missed at least 43 games in each of the past three seasons, appearing in 39 in 2023-24, 18 in 2024-25, and 38 in 2025-26.
With this in mind, the 76ers must enter the 2026-27 campaign with a talent they can feature and develop. Perhaps Embiid will get a clean bill of health and consistently play, but three full seasons of steady availability issues speak volumes.
With this in mind, the 76ers should keep a close eye on the top interior talent entering the 2026 NBA Draft and look for players who can ideally back Embiid up and play alongside him.
76ers must draft a center with starting potential in 2026
Philadelphia could sign a player to help address the void at center, but doing so would likely cost the team precious cap space. The 76ers don't need another player on a minimum-level salary, after all, but a sustainable formula for success both with and without Embiid on the court.
That would thus entail signing a player to a multi-year deal, which would require enough financial compensation to convince them to forego opportunities that could offer more stability as a starter.
That eliminates free agency as a realistic option for the 76ers to consider—as though it ever were. Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey will make more than $150 million combined in 2026-27 and VJ Edgecombe will add upward of $11.6 million to the salary cap table.
With limited financial flexibility and clear needs for wing depth and shooting, the money Philadelphia will have to spend in free agency would simply be better utilized elsewhere.
That leaves the 2026 NBA Draft as the only viable option for a path to improvement. Investing in a promising young talent would mean bringing a player in who would ideally be signed to a four-year deal with a team-friendly rookie-scale figure attached to it.
The obvious hope is that Embiid will no longer have to miss 40-plus games per season, but the 76ers must accept their reality and plan as though he will.
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