Nick Piccone
Tonight, the Sixers open the 2016-17 NBA preseason with a tilt against the Boston Celtics in Amherst, Mass. The game will feature the debut of 2014 first-round draft pick, Joel Embiid. And according to the head coach, Embiid will see the court for 12 minutes total, and likely sit out the second half.
“I’ve got a 12-minute budget and I’m probably going to spend it in the first aisle I come to,” Brett Brown said following shootaround Tuesday morning at UMass-Amherst. “I feel like I’m going to use that up in the first half and just play him … I’ve got a good thing going right now with our three bigs. If you’re not going rim to rim on two consecutive possessions, you have to be tired. So it’s no problem. Have a seat and we’ll bring somebody else in.”
Baby steps. I’m totally OK with that. Embiid doesn’t need to go full out in the first preseason game. The Sixers won’t contend this year, so it’ll be used to get Embiid in shape and ready for next season, where he’ll hopefully play 82 games.
According to Brown, Embiid’s time on the court will be capped at four minutes, maybe three.
Jahlil Okafor, who’s also returning from a knee injury that ended his season prematurely last year, will not play. Dario Saric, however, will.