The Philadelphia 76ers’ season came to an end in the second round of the NBA playoffs at the hands of the Miami Heat.
A big part of that was a variety of injuries to big man and MVP runner-up Joel Embiid. He had to don a face mask for the series after taking a shot to the face and he was also dealing with a thumb injury that limited in part of the Raptors series and then throughout the Heat series.
While these weren’t career threatening injuries he was dealing with, they all piled up and with James Harden being a relative no-show in the elimination game, the Sixers were eliminated.
Because of all the injuries, it should come as no surprise that Embiid underwent offseason surgery. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports the center had surgery to repair both his right thumb and his left index finger on May 30.
Embiid Has 2 Surgeries
With Embiid having injuries on both of his hands, it’s clear he was dealing with a lot throughout the playoffs. Charania says neither of these surgeries are expected to impact his readiness for training camp.
“76ers’ Joel Embiid underwent surgery Monday to repair his right thumb injury, per the team, and he also had a procedure to repair an injury to his left index finger,” wrote Charania. “Neither procedure is expected to impact Embiid’s availability for training camp.”
These past playoffs were particularly rough for the Sixers as they dealt with a plethora of injuries to key pieces. Danny Green suffered a devastating injury in the closeout game against the Heat after Embiid fell into his leg. While nothing has been said publicly, there’s also a suspicion that James Harden was dealing with a hamstring injury lingering from the end of his Nets tenure.
With the summer ahead of them to get healthy, the expectation is that everyone will be ready to go with the exception of Green who has said he’ll be back by the All-Star Break provided he isn’t released from the team.
Big Expectations Ahead
GettyJames Harden, Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers will want everyone to be healthy going into next year because they still have championship aspirations.
While nothing has been set in stone officially, James Harden has said he’ll be back next year which seems to indicate he’ll be picking up his player option. Beyond that there are tons of question marks.
If the Harden of old is gone for good and this new version of him becomes the norm, he might not be worth the massive contract that he’s due to get. The Sixers won’t want to let him walk for nothing especially since they gave up Ben Simmons for the superstar, but with his next contract potentially taking him into the twilight of his career, the Sixers will have plenty to think about.
The team’s championship window won’t be open for long and if they want to capitalize off Embiid’s prime, they’ll need to do it fast. At the very least, the Sixers will be going into the next season with a fully healthy MVP candidate.
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