Sixers’ Joel Embiid can return Friday and Ben Simmons on Saturday if negative COVID-19 tests continue

If 76ers All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons continue to test negative for COVID-19, Embiid could return after missing one game and Simmons after missing two.

The Sixers (24-12) return to action Thursday against the Bulls in Chicago and then visit the Washington Wizards on Friday. The Sixers are off Saturday and then host San Antonio on Sunday.

The Sixers announced that as long as both players continue to test negative, Embiid can return to team activities once he receives a lab-based PCR negative result on Friday. Simmons can to return once he receivers a negative result on Saturday.

Simmons and Embiid were ruled out of Sunday’s All-Star Game and are quarantining for seven days after coming in contact with a barber who tested positive for COVID-19.

An NBA spokesperson told The Inquirer that each situation is reviewed when concerning contact tracing, but generally a player must quarantine seven days after contact.

After Sunday’s game, coach Doc Rivers suggested that it could be five days and he was hopeful to have both back for Thursday’s and Friday’s games. That obviously won’t happen now.

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A leading MVP candidate, Embiid is averaging 30.2 points and 11.6 rebounds. He has missed six games and the Sixers are 1-5 in those games. Simmons is averaging 16.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.6 assists. He has missed five games and the Sixers are 2-3.

The Sixers have played just one game without both Simmons and Embiid, a 115-103 home loss on Jan. 9 to the Denver Nuggets.

That isn’t a good game to judge since the Sixers only dressed eight players and just seven were available due to either COVID-19 protocols and injuries.

The Sixers will have a day to work with any new lineups when they return to practice on Wednesday in Chicago.

The last three times that Simmons has been out, Seth Curry has moved from shooting guard to Simmons’ point-guard position. Furkan Korkmaz started one of those games in Curry’s spot while Matisse Thybulle started the other two games.

It also could mean more playing time for rookie first-round draft choice Tyrese Maxey, who has not played in three of the past six games and averaged 9.9 minutes in the other three games.

During one six-game stretch from Jan. 7-16, a time when the Sixers were shorthanded due to injury and health and safety protocols, Maxey averaged 18.8 points. In the 22 games since, of which he appeared in 18, Maxey has averaged 5.3 points.

Sixth man Shake Milton could be a potential starter, but he brings an offensive spark off the bench, averaging 13.8 points. Whether he starts or not, his minutes will likely increase in Simmons’ absence.

As for replacing Embiid, even though Dwight Howard has performed well as the backup center, Rivers recently has chosen to bring him off the bench due to the energy he brings.

Howard started the first four games that Embiid missed, but has come off the bench in the last two. In one of those games, seldom-used Tony Bradley started at center during a 119-110 win at Indiana on Jan. 31.

Rivers started Mike Scott in the most recent game Embiid missed, a 134-123 loss at Utah on Feb. 15.

Howard had two of his better games this year in those two games. He produced 11 points and 15 rebounds against Indiana and 14 points and 12 rebounds against Utah.

Earlier this season Thybulle, Tobias Harris, and Shake Milton were declared out due to contact tracing after Curry tested positive for the coronavirus Jan. 7.

The trio missed three games and returned to action Jan. 14 in a 125-108 win over the Miami Heat.