After a fruitful offseason in which the Philadelphia 76ers bolstered their bottom-feeding roster in a multitude of ways, the focal point of the franchise remains their young core. With Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, and rookie Markelle Fultz all being younger than 23 years of age, the future is brighter than ever for what has been a franchise marred in losing.
However, with a few of them having extensive injury histories, the Sixers must tread slowly in fear of Simmons or Embiid suffering yet another setback. Knowing this, the Sixers currently will open the season with a minutes restriction for center Joel Embiid.
After practice on Tuesday, Embiid let it be known exactly what he thought about his restriction. Following from Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia:
“That’s f—ing BS, I wish I was playing more minutes. I think I’m ready for more than I don’t know whatever number they have.”
Though Embiid may not be excited about having to play with a minutes restriction yet again, Same Hinkie and the 76ers are doing what they feel is best for the organization. You never want your leader to become injury prone, especially when you give him a lucrative contract such as the deal Philly agreed upon with Embiid.
After so many years of irrelevancy and now finally some hope on the horizon, it just doesn’t make sense for Philly to run the risk of its franchise centerpiece suffering another major setback. Embiid addressed as much and even revealed that the team is aware of his frustration:
“I always think I have a voice so I’m sure they’re listening to what I have to say too, but they’re making a decision based on what they think. But I think that’s BS.”
“They know that I’m frustrated, but once again you’ve got to trust the doctors, they care about me. It’s all about the long-term view.”
With a restriction to start the campaign off, expect to see more and more of Joel Embiid as the season continues on and for the 76ers to work their way up the ranks in a thinned out Eastern Conference.
