The Philadelphia 76ers have lost 19 of their last 20 games and as many of their fans know they are stuck on nine wins in what has been another dreadful season. Unlike past seasons for the 76ers though, they actually have some hope moving forward thanks to some of their young players.
The young player most 76ers fans want to talk about is Joel Embiid, who has yet to step on an NBA court despite being drafted in 2014. It is hard for fans to have any sort of confidence in Embiid considering he has had injury issues since they drafted him, but the organization still believes he will be a great NBA player.
Embiid has missed each of the last two seasons with a broken bone in his foot. The 22-year-old center also dealt with injury issues in his one year at Kansas but the 76ers are confident that he will be ready to go next year. The reports coming out about Embiid lately have all been extremely positive as he says he feels great about himself and GM Sam Hinkie has also said that he is doing great.
Hinkie added that Embiid has rare gifts and that the organization is extremely excited about him. Embiid's talent has always been undeniable but the question surrounding him has been and always will be if he can stay healthy enough to fulfill that potential. Earlier this season Embiid went to a state-of-the-art orthopedic hospital in Qatar to work on his foot and came back having made extraordinary progress. The center is back in Qatar now for a second round of treatment, but this time he brought some of the 76ers staff with him.
Despite all of the progress Embiid is reportedly making in his recovery the 76ers still don't plan to expose him to summer league. 76ers fans likely want to get a look at Embiid in some sort of NBA competition as soon as possible, but this is likely a case of the 76ers not wanting to risk having him get hurt in meaningless games. Obviously Embiid will have to get into a rhythm before next season starts, but that will likely come in the preseason as Hinkie wants Embiid to be "raring to go" for game one of the 2016-17 season.
