Latest Joel Embiid rumor will leave fans questioning the direction of the franchise

The Philadelphia 76ers clearly continue to have some big questions about their future after their disastrous start to this season.

All throughout the NBA offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers were praised for one good move after another. It started out with prying Paul George away from the LA Clippers to open free agency and continued with the retooling of their supporting cast. In fact, you can even look back at the Sixers' move to select Jared McCain with their late first-round pick as a great success (even though it was impossible to tell at the time). The offseason was punctuated with Joel Embiid agreeing to a three-year contract extension with the team. In total, the 2024 NBA summer was a resounding success for Philadelphia.

Despite their excellent offseason, the Sixers find themselves at 3-13. For the moment, that's good for the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. It feels like their successful offseason took place years ago. With the way the Sixers have begun the season, it's perfectly fair to question everything - from the PG signing to the Embiid extension.

Interestingly enough, there's one tidbit from that Embiid extension that has drawn much attention recently - and it's the fact that the Sixers sought out extra medical opinions on Embiid before giving him the near-$200 million extension. Despite all that, Embiid has still managed to play in only four of 16 games so far this season. It's clear that there was - or perhaps is - a disconnect somewhere.

The Philadelphia 76ers' future depends on the knees of Joel Embiid

It's notable that Embiid was consistently cleared by the "extra" medical professionals. However, the fact that he wasn't ready for the start of training camp or the regular season has to be considered alarming. To add to the concern, even when Embid has played this season, he hasn't looked like his former self. Roughly 20 games into the regular season, Embiid has not looked like Embiid. On the heels of that extension, that's not a great look for Embiid or the franchise.

At this point, especially with the way this season has begun for the team, you can't help but begin to question what lies ahead for the franchise. It's pretty clear that the future of this franchise is either going to be made or broken by Embiid. He hasn't been available or all that healthy this season and it's led to a 3-13 start to the season for the team. I suppose, because of how little Embiid has played this season, we shouldn't be all that shocked.

It's easy to blame Embiid and only Embiid. But there have to be bigger issues at play. The Sixers are a mess and aside from the unexpected play of McCain so far this season, there isn't much the fan base can be happy about at the moment. The fans should be questioning everything about the Sixers' future right now. It's hard to blame them for being up in arms at the moment.