The Philadelphia 76ers’ season has not gone according to plan, as they’re headed to the draft lottery after once boasting the third-best championship odds.
Barring some further bad luck, the 76ers should be able to keep their 2025 first-round draft pick, but if it lands outside the top six, it’ll end up with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In addition to making the right pick, Philadelphia may also need to address some “tension” between center Joel Embiid and the front office, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“One thing as well, to keep in mind here is going into the offseason, there was some tension there between Joel Embiid and that front office from my understanding,” Charania relayed on an episode of First Take. “The team believed he needed to play at some points in the season, they need to get his conditioning right through playing and getting better that way. He felt like he needed surgery.”
Embiid will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee next week after consulting with doctors and specialists to determine the next steps of his recovery.
“They looked at some radical options for that knee,” Charania shared. “That included options that would have sidelined him for next season too, but Joel Embiid (and) the Sixers landed on arthroscopic surgery. This gives him a chance to potentially play next season as well, but it’s his second surgery in 14 months.”
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There are a ton of questions as to how Embiid can rediscover the same form that helped him win MVP in 2023. When Embiid is healthy, there is no doubt that he is one of the most dangerous players on the court on both sides of the floor.
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