NBA Rumors: There's new hope that the Philadelphia 76ers will welcome Joel Embiid from injury back at some point in March.
On January 23, the Philadelphia 76ers were 29-13, ranked third in the Eastern Conference standings, and just a half-game out of the second seed. All seemed to be pointing in the right direction and the Sixers very much looked like a team on the rise. However, two games later, the unthinkable happened. Joel Embiid injured his knee, casting a cloud of doubt on the season.
Embiid has now been out a month since he was diagnosed with a meniscus injury that he did undergo surgery for. Initially, it seemed as if Embiid was going to miss the remainder of the season, pointing to a somewhat of a "white flag" from the Sixers. However, that's not exactly the case. After the procedure on his knee was done, there was some hope that Embiid could return before the end of the season. There's now renewed hope on that front.
And not just that Embiid can return before the end of the season but that he could possibly return before the end of the March. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, that's the hope surrounding the team at the moment.
Of course, a lot can change between now and then, but it's certainly an encouraging sign that things are going well with his rehab.
The Philadelphia 76ers' struggles without Joel Embiid
The Sixers have understandably struggled without Embiid in the lineup. The Sixers are just 4-8 in their last 12 games without Embiid and have fallen all the way to 6th in the Eastern Conference standings. The team has also dipped to 23rd in the league offensively and 29th on the defensive end of the floor.
All in all, the Sixers have been a disaster without Embiid on the floor in the last month. Expecting Tyrese Maxey to carry the entire load for the Sixers was unfair from the beginning, but the last month has shown that this team desperately needs Embiid back if they're going to make any noise in the postseason.
The good news is that reinforcements could be coming for the struggling Sixers. It's not just Embiid's production that the Sixers are missing, it's his overall presence and impact that he has on the rest of the roster that Philadelphia needs.
From all indications, it sounds like Embiid is going to be back before the end of the season. It seems like it's only a matter of "when," and not "if."