Sixers reveal Joel Embiid has returned to the gym, but refuse to address questions about his troublesome knee
Embiid suffered the injury in Game 4 of the Sixers’ first-round playoff series against the Washington Wizards at the Capital One Arena.
NEW YORK — Daryl Morey would reveal only that Joel Embiid is in the gym and said that the 76ers have no medical concerns about their All-Star center.
“He has a plan with our medical staff, and we feel good about it,” Morey said of Embiid, who played with a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks.
The Sixers president of basketball operation was later asked if Embiid was going to have knee surgery.
“Again, he has a plan and he looks great,” Morey said. “I’m intentionally not answering your specific question.”
Embiid has been in the gym working out this offseason. But his knee remains a hot topic.
Will he need surgery to fully repair the knee? If so, when is it scheduled?
Embiid suffered the injury in Game 4 of the Sixers’ first-round playoff series against the Washington Wizards. He was sidelined in Game 5, when the Sixers clinched the series at home.
The MVP runner-up averaged 30.4 points and 12.7 rebounds while playing with the injury against the Hawks.
Summer League availabilities
Morey thinks all three of the Sixers’ draft picks will play in the NBA Summer League next month in Las Vegas.
They selected Tennessee guard Jaden Springer with the 28th overall pick. In the second round, the Sixers chose post player Filip Petrusev at No. 50 and Charles Bassey three spots later.
Petrusev is a Serbian power forward/center who played this season for KK Mega Basket in Belgrade, Serbia. Bassey is a Nigerian-born center. He was a junior this season at Western Kentucky.
“I know they all want to [play in the summer league],” Morey said. “Sometimes you can have with the international players, you can have some potential issues with getting in the country and things. But the plan with all three is to play, and that’s the goal that we’re working with them and their representatives.”
The NBA Summer League will run Aug. 8-17 at UNLV. The Sixers open play against the Dallas Mavericks at 4 p.m. Aug. 9.