Nick Piccone
In the same interview Bryan Colangelo gave to NBA.com that we wrote about earlier, the topic of Joel Embiid was discussed and how close he is to returning to game action on the court. Some thought there was a chance he’d participate in the summer league this year, and others thought the Sixers would likely wait until the fall so Embiid can be 100% healthy. According to the president of basketball operations and general manager, the likelihood of Embiid playing in the summer league is “nil.”
People are just looking for a timeline,” Colangelo said. “There’s no timeline. But until I hear a doctor tell me ‘No summer league,’ I will always say anything’s open. But the likelihood of him playing summer league is nil. I would only say that because of where he is in the progression right now. But if he makes enough progress and the doctors say he’s ready to go there’s no reason he shouldn’t.
But having said that, I would say it’s a 99-percent chance, maybe a 100-percent chance, that he’s not going to play. We just don’t want to put him in a situation where he hasn’t been playing competitive basketball. We probably want to ease into that and that would mean sometime after summer league. But if he is going to come into training camp you want him to have at least a little bit of flow and a little bit of rhythm and to be in a position where he could have tested the foot to the extent that he’s ultimately going to be exposed in a training-camp environment.”
Not entirely surprising to me, but the people who thought Embiid should at least begin his road back to game action in the summer league probably won’t be too thrilled. If Embiid is completely healthy, he may start the 2016-17 season with the team, but until we’re told “Joel Embiid is 100% healthy and will play in this particular game,” I’m just going to assume we’ll never see him in game action again. Because that’s always fun and infuriating to think about.
UPDATE: It’s official. Colangelo says Embiid won’t be playing in the summer league.