Another non-update update on Embiid

[D.o.s.]

For what it's worth I think LarBrd provides a lot more to the forum/contributes to more meaningful discussion than some of his detractors, who mostly miss the point and snipe because they're curmudgeonly, or something.

As far as the actual discussion goes, these two posts on the first page were really all that needs to be said on the issue:

I can't believe how small he makes Okafor look.

and that is why the Sixers aren't messing around with him.  If they get him healthy he is going to be an absolute beast.  But he has to get healthy.

They're not really in a rush. They probably plan on tanking again this year, so him being out recovering from surgery would just fit that narrative perfectly. That would also give them the chance to see how the Okafor/Noel pairing does without having to really limit their minutes with another big demanding minutes.

The rest is just noise.

Lol.

Miss the point?

Really?

Problem with your reading comprehension or do you just disagree? Some posters seem motivated to post explicitly because they're butthurt about his interpretation of the Celtics. I don't think that's particularly farfetched (and, in fact, you can see it in this thread)

For what it's worth I think LarBrd provides a lot more to the forum/contributes to more meaningful discussion than some of his detractors, who mostly miss the point and snipe because they're curmudgeonly, or something.

Every time someone says that the Celtics are doomed to mediorcity for 15 years or any other hyperbolic message is more baiting people, than contributing.

If that's your entire takeaway from his posts I would perhaps posit that you need to read a little more carefully and avoid getting your jimmies so rustled.


edit: And, of course, I think it should be noted that LB33 and I disagree with each other fairly frequently and pretty voraciously when we do (you can look at every single Bismack thread if you missed it), so it's not as if I'm defending his position here, just pointing out some mostly-infantile behavior. Just because we're talking about a kid's game doesn't mean we have to act like 5 year olds.

[BlackCeltic]

I'm confused...did we acquire Joel Embiid? B/c there sure are a lot of threads and posts about this dude. (Yes, I get many of us finding what Philly is doing pretty shameless and would enjoy seeing them fail at it, but seriously, why are we devoting this much energy to a guy that's not on our team, and probably won't ever be on our team?)

Philly is the alt-universe Celtic team we see in our dreams.  It's hard not to notice them...  seeing as they are a division rival, started their rebuild right around the same time as us, and are doing what many of us hoped Boston would do:  bottom out and load up on superstar prospects.    There's a certain amount of jealousy, awe and envy associated with everything Philly is doing right now.  There's heightened interest in their superstar prospects.  Naturally, a lot of Celtic fans would greatly prefer to see Philly fall on their face... and with Philly seemingly holding all of the cards and Danny getting turned down when he offers half his assets for one of them, you can imagine how chippy some of these threads can get.

To be clear, it might blow up in their face.  But it also might result in a perennial contender.   Embiid is the crown jewel of Philly's shameless scheme.  I really don't care one way or the other whether Embiid plays.  As a fan of the sport, I'm curious to see what he develops into.  I like watching great playes.  As a Celtic fan, I'm deftly afraid of living in obscurity while Embiid rules the division for the next 15 years.  But I'm not going to latch onto Weekly World News rumors simply because I'm fearful of the coming winter.  I've kind of accepted Boston's fate of indefinite irrelevance so I guess I'm just a little more numb to the idea of the Philly dynasty.

Envious of Philly? lol

[celticsclay]

For what it's worth I think LarBrd provides a lot more to the forum/contributes to more meaningful discussion than some of his detractors, who mostly miss the point and snipe because they're curmudgeonly, or something.

As far as the actual discussion goes, these two posts on the first page were really all that needs to be said on the issue:

I can't believe how small he makes Okafor look.

and that is why the Sixers aren't messing around with him.  If they get him healthy he is going to be an absolute beast.  But he has to get healthy.

They're not really in a rush. They probably plan on tanking again this year, so him being out recovering from surgery would just fit that narrative perfectly. That would also give them the chance to see how the Okafor/Noel pairing does without having to really limit their minutes with another big demanding minutes.

The rest is just noise.

Lol.

Miss the point?

Really?

Problem with your reading comprehension or do you just disagree? Some posters seem motivated to post explicitly because they're butthurt about his interpretation of the Celtics. I don't think that's particularly farfetched (and, in fact, you can see it in this thread)

For what it's worth I think LarBrd provides a lot more to the forum/contributes to more meaningful discussion than some of his detractors, who mostly miss the point and snipe because they're curmudgeonly, or something.

Every time someone says that the Celtics are doomed to mediorcity for 15 years or any other hyperbolic message is more baiting people, than contributing.

If that's your entire takeaway from his posts I would perhaps posit that you need to read a little more carefully and avoid getting your jimmies so rustled.

DOS I'm not sure if you are considering me a "larbrd detractor" but I will clarify something if that is how my comments are viewed. I agree with Larbrd on a lot of his assessments of things. As a whole he is more pessimistic than I am about some of the Celtics players, but that is just a personality difference between the two of us. What I do respond to some of the time is when he grossly exaggerates things (in my opinion). His comparison of Noel to Anthony Davis, saying Lebron James would average 15 assists in his early 40's and saying Embiid will dominate the division for the next 15 years are the kinds of comments when I feel compelled to put in some context.

I do find the Embiid thing personally interesting. I can't really think of a time a players NBA career (and a top 3 pick no less) was shrouded in so much mystery. At this particular instance is reminds me of what the Celtics were doing in the playoffs with KG like 5 years ago where we had no idea whether the guy was out for the season or not. I kind of lean towards thinking he will play this upcoming season. However, the fact that the team keeps kicking the can down the road makes me wonder if there is a chance he may in fact get a second surgery and miss the season.

While I can see how some find discussing these non-updates trivial and boring, I find them at least as interesting as proposal for trading wallace or fire danny ainge threads personally.

[D.o.s.]

Agreed. Wasn't talking about you.

[Rondo9]

For what it's worth I think LarBrd provides a lot more to the forum/contributes to more meaningful discussion than some of his detractors, who mostly miss the point and snipe because they're curmudgeonly, or something.

As far as the actual discussion goes, these two posts on the first page were really all that needs to be said on the issue:

I can't believe how small he makes Okafor look.

and that is why the Sixers aren't messing around with him.  If they get him healthy he is going to be an absolute beast.  But he has to get healthy.

They're not really in a rush. They probably plan on tanking again this year, so him being out recovering from surgery would just fit that narrative perfectly. That would also give them the chance to see how the Okafor/Noel pairing does without having to really limit their minutes with another big demanding minutes.

The rest is just noise.

Lol.

Miss the point?

Really?

Problem with your reading comprehension or do you just disagree? Some posters seem motivated to post explicitly because they're butthurt about his interpretation of the Celtics. I don't think that's particularly farfetched (and, in fact, you can see it in this thread)

For what it's worth I think LarBrd provides a lot more to the forum/contributes to more meaningful discussion than some of his detractors, who mostly miss the point and snipe because they're curmudgeonly, or something.

Every time someone says that the Celtics are doomed to mediorcity for 15 years or any other hyperbolic message is more baiting people, than contributing.

If that's your entire takeaway from his posts I would perhaps posit that you need to read a little more carefully and avoid getting your jimmies so rustled.


edit: And, of course, I think it should be noted that LB33 and I disagree with each other fairly frequently and pretty voraciously when we do (you can look at every single Bismack thread if you missed it), so it's not as if I'm defending his position here, just pointing out some mostly-infantile behavior. Just because we're talking about a kid's game doesn't mean we have to act like 5 year olds.

I do read it and the problem is I can't take his opinion seriously if he's prone to overreaction.

[LarBrd33]

Despite what eja said in the previous page, 4-6 months was always given as an optimistic estimate.  From day 1, they said it could take up to a full year for it to fully heal for some athletes (by the way, eja and Eddie are fully aware of this).  Had 4-6 months been definitive, we wouldn't have known from day 1 that Embiid was being kept out a full season (since 6 months would have been sometime in December... plenty of time for Embiid to play out the final 4 months of the season... and yet that was NEVER an option).

LarBrd,  the things that you're spewing are flat out lies, man. Why the need to state things that you to know to be false?



http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24599571/sixers-gm-sam-hinkie-joel-embiid-out-5-8-months-not-4-6


You (false statement #1)

From day 1, they said it could take up to a full year for it to fully heal for some athletes

Reality
Immediately following surgery

Timeframe -- I've seen reported some 4 to 6 months -- that's not the number that I've heard," Hinkie said. "The number that I've heard from the surgeon himself was 5 to 8 months."

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/02/10/hinkie-embiid-could-play-this-season-might-be-sixers-second-best-shooter/

You (false statement #2)

6 months would have been sometime in December... plenty of time for Embiid to play out the final 4 months of the season... and yet that was NEVER an option)

Reality
Feb 10, 2015

“It’s still too early,” Hinkie said on Embiid playing this season. “We still talked about that. He’ll have a number of benchmarks that he’ll have to meet and if he meets them he’ll play.

Eddie... he had his surgery on June 20th, 2014.  That's just about a year ago.

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix looked into this question today. He spoke with Dr. Kenneth Hunt, Assistant Professor of Orthopedics at Stanford, and the results were encouraging, but not completely alleviating.

"The most common treatment is to make small incisions to place one or two screws across the fracture to stabilize it," Hunt said. "If the fracture is displaced, a bone graft can accelerate healing."
Hunt noted that despite the high profile examples of athletes who have battled recurrences of a navicular fracture, "the healing rates of this fracture are high."


"The majority of these injuries will heal completely," Hunt said. "Getting to it early is a good prognostic sign. In his case, it appears it was treated early and appropriately. In the cases I have seen, the athletes that have recurrent fractures have high arches and stiff feet. They can develop large spurs in the adjacent bones. But again, to the majority of athletes this will heal and not be an issue in the future."


As for recovery time, Hunt said that players generally resume basketball activities in 4-6 months and are ready to play in nine months, though in some cases it can be closer to a year.

I'm not sure what part of this you aren't getting.  It was the same with Nerlens Noel.  They publicly left open hope of him playing his rookie year, but everyone was aware he was sitting out.  Nobody actually expected Embiid to play last year.  That said, Embiid "resumed basketball activities" several months ago. 

This was in December (6 months): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOBTD8SIvg8

This was in January (7 months):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=risTY0EAUgE

This is in February (8 months):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OdqsZUqYDk

This was in March (9 months):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1iunhwzTG0

All reports suggest that from April (10 months) to June (12 months) he was going full tilt.  All reports indicated that he was "definitely" playing in Summer league in July.  It was known that for him to be FULLY healed might take a full year.  Now it's been a full year and all reports suggest Embiid is ready to go, but a routine CT scan is still giving them pause.   We can only speculate what's actually going on.  Based on everything I've read, my speculation is that a lot of teams would have Embiid playing in summer league right now.  But letting a multi-million dollar asset risk injury is what got the Blazers/Oden in trouble.  Philly doesn't want to take any chances.   

Funny thing is, it's usually the other way around... the player doesn't feel 100%, but the team is pressuring them to play.  RIght now Embiid wants to play and is letting anyone know who will listen that he's "fine"...  and yet the team wants him to rest for 4 more months.

Side note:   6 months from June 2014... I aint so good at math, but maybe someone can help me count these.    July.  August.  September.  October.  November.  December.... How many months is that? 

[Eddie20]

Despite what eja said in the previous page, 4-6 months was always given as an optimistic estimate.  From day 1, they said it could take up to a full year for it to fully heal for some athletes (by the way, eja and Eddie are fully aware of this).  Had 4-6 months been definitive, we wouldn't have known from day 1 that Embiid was being kept out a full season (since 6 months would have been sometime in December... plenty of time for Embiid to play out the final 4 months of the season... and yet that was NEVER an option).

LarBrd,  the things that you're spewing are flat out lies, man. Why the need to state things that you to know to be false?



http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24599571/sixers-gm-sam-hinkie-joel-embiid-out-5-8-months-not-4-6


You (false statement #1)

From day 1, they said it could take up to a full year for it to fully heal for some athletes

Reality
Immediately following surgery

Timeframe -- I've seen reported some 4 to 6 months -- that's not the number that I've heard," Hinkie said. "The number that I've heard from the surgeon himself was 5 to 8 months."

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/02/10/hinkie-embiid-could-play-this-season-might-be-sixers-second-best-shooter/

You (false statement #2)

6 months would have been sometime in December... plenty of time for Embiid to play out the final 4 months of the season... and yet that was NEVER an option)

Reality
Feb 10, 2015

“It’s still too early,” Hinkie said on Embiid playing this season. “We still talked about that. He’ll have a number of benchmarks that he’ll have to meet and if he meets them he’ll play.

Eddie... he had his surgery on June 20th, 2014.  That's just about a year ago.

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix looked into this question today. He spoke with Dr. Kenneth Hunt, Assistant Professor of Orthopedics at Stanford, and the results were encouraging, but not completely alleviating.

"The most common treatment is to make small incisions to place one or two screws across the fracture to stabilize it," Hunt said. "If the fracture is displaced, a bone graft can accelerate healing."?Hunt noted that despite the high profile examples of athletes who have battled recurrences of a navicular fracture, "the healing rates of this fracture are high."

?"The majority of these injuries will heal completely," Hunt said. "Getting to it early is a good prognostic sign. In his case, it appears it was treated early and appropriately. In the cases I have seen, the athletes that have recurrent fractures have high arches and stiff feet. They can develop large spurs in the adjacent bones. But again, to the majority of athletes this will heal and not be an issue in the future."

?As for recovery time, Hunt said that players generally resume basketball activities in 4-6 months and are ready to play in nine months, though in some cases it can be closer to a year.

I'm not sure what part of this you people aren't getting.  Embiid "resumed basketball activities" several months ago.  He's been going full tilt for a few months now.   It was known that for him to be FULLY healed might take a full year.  Now it's been a full year and all reports suggest Embiid is ready to go, but the CT scan is still giving them pause.   We can only speculate what's actually going on.  Based on everything I've read, my speculation is that a lot of teams would have Embiid playing in summer league right now.  But letting a multi-million dollar asset risk injury is what got the Blazers/Oden in trouble.  Philly doesn't want to take any chances.   

Funny thing is, it's usually the other way around... the player doesn't feel 100%, but the team is pressuring them to play.  RIght now Embiid wants to play and is letting anyone know who will listen that he's "fine"...  and yet the team wants him to rest for 4 more months.

So now you're citing a generalizaed example from a doctor who hasn't treated Embiid, instead of Hinkie, who was reiterating what the operating surgeon said about Embiid specifically?

What Hinkie said and what you said do NOT match. Bottom line. So either you're stating things without knowing full details (possible) or you're flat out lying in order to try to make your case sound better (also possible).

[LarBrd33]

Despite what eja said in the previous page, 4-6 months was always given as an optimistic estimate.  From day 1, they said it could take up to a full year for it to fully heal for some athletes (by the way, eja and Eddie are fully aware of this).  Had 4-6 months been definitive, we wouldn't have known from day 1 that Embiid was being kept out a full season (since 6 months would have been sometime in December... plenty of time for Embiid to play out the final 4 months of the season... and yet that was NEVER an option).

LarBrd,  the things that you're spewing are flat out lies, man. Why the need to state things that you to know to be false?



http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24599571/sixers-gm-sam-hinkie-joel-embiid-out-5-8-months-not-4-6


You (false statement #1)

From day 1, they said it could take up to a full year for it to fully heal for some athletes

Reality
Immediately following surgery

Timeframe -- I've seen reported some 4 to 6 months -- that's not the number that I've heard," Hinkie said. "The number that I've heard from the surgeon himself was 5 to 8 months."

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/02/10/hinkie-embiid-could-play-this-season-might-be-sixers-second-best-shooter/

You (false statement #2)

6 months would have been sometime in December... plenty of time for Embiid to play out the final 4 months of the season... and yet that was NEVER an option)

Reality
Feb 10, 2015

“It’s still too early,” Hinkie said on Embiid playing this season. “We still talked about that. He’ll have a number of benchmarks that he’ll have to meet and if he meets them he’ll play.

Eddie... he had his surgery on June 20th, 2014.  That's just about a year ago.

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix looked into this question today. He spoke with Dr. Kenneth Hunt, Assistant Professor of Orthopedics at Stanford, and the results were encouraging, but not completely alleviating.

"The most common treatment is to make small incisions to place one or two screws across the fracture to stabilize it," Hunt said. "If the fracture is displaced, a bone graft can accelerate healing."?Hunt noted that despite the high profile examples of athletes who have battled recurrences of a navicular fracture, "the healing rates of this fracture are high."

?"The majority of these injuries will heal completely," Hunt said. "Getting to it early is a good prognostic sign. In his case, it appears it was treated early and appropriately. In the cases I have seen, the athletes that have recurrent fractures have high arches and stiff feet. They can develop large spurs in the adjacent bones. But again, to the majority of athletes this will heal and not be an issue in the future."

?As for recovery time, Hunt said that players generally resume basketball activities in 4-6 months and are ready to play in nine months, though in some cases it can be closer to a year.

I'm not sure what part of this you people aren't getting.  Embiid "resumed basketball activities" several months ago.  He's been going full tilt for a few months now.   It was known that for him to be FULLY healed might take a full year.  Now it's been a full year and all reports suggest Embiid is ready to go, but the CT scan is still giving them pause.   We can only speculate what's actually going on.  Based on everything I've read, my speculation is that a lot of teams would have Embiid playing in summer league right now.  But letting a multi-million dollar asset risk injury is what got the Blazers/Oden in trouble.  Philly doesn't want to take any chances.   

Funny thing is, it's usually the other way around... the player doesn't feel 100%, but the team is pressuring them to play.  RIght now Embiid wants to play and is letting anyone know who will listen that he's "fine"...  and yet the team wants him to rest for 4 more months.

So now you're citing a generalizaed example from a doctor who hasn't treated Embiid, instead of Hinkie, who was reiterating what the operating surgeon said about Embiid specifically?

What Hinkie said and what you said do NOT match. Bottom line. So either your stating things without knowing full details (possible) or you're flat out lying in order to try to make your case sound better (also possible).

Eddie... what's my "case"?  What do I have to gain from this?  You guys are seeing this as a debate.    It's not a debate.  I'm not trying to "win" anything.  All I'm saying that there isn't anything publicly being said that makes me believe Embiid's career is over.  It's actually the opposite.  Everyone around his camp seems cautiously optimistic.   There doesn't seem to be a "sky is falling mentality".   I'm providing information the best I can.   I can only speculate like the rest of you, but my speculation is based on the facts we have available.   If you have something factual that you want to submit to the discussion that suggest Embiid's career is over, by all means... do it.   But I'm just trying to do my best to relay what is actually known about Embiid right now.   

Is there something you want me to acknowledge that I'm not?   

[D.o.s.]

^ He wants you to acknowledge that you actually worship satan and love the 76ers and secretly you hate the celtics because you must hate the celtics to think the way you do you satan lover you. Obvs.

I do read it and the problem is I can't take his opinion seriously if he's prone to overreaction.

I don't think that's a standard you can apply across the blog with any hope of reading more than 5-10 posts a year. 

Furthermore, it's one thing to disagree with someone's use of hyperbole, it's very much another not to recognize it.

[LarBrd33]

^ He wants you to acknowledge that you actually worship satan and love the 76ers and secretly you hate the celtics because you must hate the celtics to think the way you do you satan lover you. Obvs.

I do read it and the problem is I can't take his opinion seriously if he's prone to overreaction.

I don't think that's a standard you can apply across the blog with any hope of reading more than 5-10 posts a year. 

Furthermore, it's one thing to disagree with someone's use of hyperbole, it's very much another not to recognize it.

I use hyperbole all the time, but it's usually pretty blatant and obvious.   My apologies to anyone who thought I actually believed the 2012 Lakers would go 82-0.   

And for what it's worth, I would rather people NOT take me seriously.  What do I know?  I'm just some idiot pessimistic Celtic fanatic.  I've been wrong many times before.  Don't take me seriously. 

[colincb]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20150710_Q_A_with_Sixers_general_manager_Sam_Hinkie.html

Q: What is the latest with Joel Embiid? The fact that it's taken some time to give an update, does that mean news isn't favorable?

A: There are meetings with various doctors who have various opinions. There are meetings with our staff about what is best for him. It's still ongoing. I think we're close [to announcing a decision]. My guess is maybe sometime next week. I don't think it will be too much longer. There hasn't been more news since the initial press release. We're just circling around a lot of the experts in this field to get their opinions. That's an important phrase - their opinions - on what course of action is best. They don't all agree sometimes. So that process takes a while.


Q: If some doctors say no and others are OK with him playing, how much of a say does Joel Embiid have in whether he plays or not? What if he says "I want to go''?

A: It's important. He's a part of this. He's a young player, and we have some expertise that we can help him with and ask questions on his behalf. He's an adult so we keep him involved every step of the way. In some ways we drive this process for him, but in some ways we're advocates on his behalf. We try to get great advice for him and for us. We wouldn't let something silly happen in either direction, so Step 1 is finding out what is silly.


Q: He had been playing and feeling great right up until the CT scan. What was his reaction to the news, and how did you handle it with him?

A: Surprised. He was surprised. Immediately I got on a flight and flew to California and took him to the surgeon. We started asking questions. We asked a ton of questions, from about him still growing to everything. Any professional athlete, much less someone as good and as big as him, there's lots of question about, "Is this case down the middle normal, like ones you've seen, or how exceptional is this case?"

- Answer coming next week. 

- Just reading between the lines and don't bet the house, but I'm getting the sense that Sixers may go for another surgery based on the above.  If more than one specialist urges surgery and others don't, one would think the Sixers would be cautious and go with the surgery. If it was just one specialist championing another surgery and everyone else saying it's OK, then this decision would already be made.

- Mention of continued growth is of interest as it might relate to improper healing.

[LarBrd33]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20150710_Q_A_with_Sixers_general_manager_Sam_Hinkie.html

Q: What is the latest with Joel Embiid? The fact that it's taken some time to give an update, does that mean news isn't favorable?

A: There are meetings with various doctors who have various opinions. There are meetings with our staff about what is best for him. It's still ongoing. I think we're close [to announcing a decision]. My guess is maybe sometime next week. I don't think it will be too much longer. There hasn't been more news since the initial press release. We're just circling around a lot of the experts in this field to get their opinions. That's an important phrase - their opinions - on what course of action is best. They don't all agree sometimes. So that process takes a while.


Q: If some doctors say no and others are OK with him playing, how much of a say does Joel Embiid have in whether he plays or not? What if he says "I want to go''?

A: It's important. He's a part of this. He's a young player, and we have some expertise that we can help him with and ask questions on his behalf. He's an adult so we keep him involved every step of the way. In some ways we drive this process for him, but in some ways we're advocates on his behalf. We try to get great advice for him and for us. We wouldn't let something silly happen in either direction, so Step 1 is finding out what is silly.


Q: He had been playing and feeling great right up until the CT scan. What was his reaction to the news, and how did you handle it with him?

A: Surprised. He was surprised. Immediately I got on a flight and flew to California and took him to the surgeon. We started asking questions. We asked a ton of questions, from about him still growing to everything. Any professional athlete, much less someone as good and as big as him, there's lots of question about, "Is this case down the middle normal, like ones you've seen, or how exceptional is this case?"

- Answer coming next week. 

- Just reading between the lines and don't bet the house, but I'm getting the sense that Sixers may go for another surgery based on the above.  If more than one specialist urges surgery and others don't, one would think the Sixers would be cautious and go with the surgery. If it was just one specialist championing another surgery and everyone else saying it's OK, then this decision would already be made.

- Mention of continued growth is of interest as it might relate to improper healing.

Not surprisingly, I continue to have the opposite reaction.  I still don't see anywhere in that entire article where they are suggesting surgery is likely.  It actually seems like the discussion is about whether or not he should be green lit to play or not... which is exactly what my impression of this has been from the initial report of his CT Scan.   He feels great and the CT Scan shows there is still more healing to be done... is it fine for him to get out there right now or do they need to stay cautious and wait longer?

I wonder if Boston still has an open offer of Marcus Smart + additional assets for either Noel or Okafor... and I wonder if Smart's solid two summer league games are helping that cause... and I wonder if we'll continue to see cryptic non-reports about Embiid's health until Philly decides on whether or not they intend to roll into next season with all three centers...  or if we'll see them solve that problem soon. 

[get_banners]

I'm hardly envious of Philly. They invested a ton in the most blatant tank job I've ever seen (talk about a middle finger to their fans who paid good money to see the team put out a d-league product on purpose), and they have no idea how it might go. Noel seems decent, but he didn't exactly set the league on fire (and on a horrific team, he should have had an easier time generating better stats). Embiid absolutely has all-world potential, and I don't necessarily think anything is catastrophically wrong with his foot, but lets be clear, the dude has yet to play a full season of basketball without a serious injury. Oh, and he's a big big man and his injuries are to his back and his foot. Okafor is, imho, the surest thing they have to develop into a star, and plenty of people think he's extremely overrated. I'm not saying I wouldn't have picked the exact same guys Philly did (I would have), but I find the faith in them being leaps and bounds ahead of us and other teams absolutely insane. We know what we have - a gritty team with some decent young talent that can make the playoffs, and a ton of picks coming. Philly? They know they have a d-league team that might be very good in a few years if everything goes right, and there are some serious concerns about that. Again, Philly has a crazy amount of potential, but the almost-certainty people speak of about them being a super team in the future is absolutely bonkers. The only thing they know right now is that Noel is a decent player who maybe can be a star, but who definitely didn't come off as that last year, particularly as the only decent player on a garbage team. Their potential stud center (wait, wasn't that Noel?) has never made it thru a full season of basketball, and his injuries are nothing to sneeze at, esp for someone his size. Their Euro stud...is a Euro stud. Those sometimes work out, and sometimes don't. Again, Philly certainly has more young talent than us, but man, given the context, that could go south real quickly.

[LGC88]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20150710_Q_A_with_Sixers_general_manager_Sam_Hinkie.html

Q: What is the latest with Joel Embiid? The fact that it's taken some time to give an update, does that mean news isn't favorable?

A: There are meetings with various doctors who have various opinions. There are meetings with our staff about what is best for him. It's still ongoing. I think we're close [to announcing a decision]. My guess is maybe sometime next week. I don't think it will be too much longer. There hasn't been more news since the initial press release. We're just circling around a lot of the experts in this field to get their opinions. That's an important phrase - their opinions - on what course of action is best. They don't all agree sometimes. So that process takes a while.


Q: If some doctors say no and others are OK with him playing, how much of a say does Joel Embiid have in whether he plays or not? What if he says "I want to go''?

A: It's important. He's a part of this. He's a young player, and we have some expertise that we can help him with and ask questions on his behalf. He's an adult so we keep him involved every step of the way. In some ways we drive this process for him, but in some ways we're advocates on his behalf. We try to get great advice for him and for us. We wouldn't let something silly happen in either direction, so Step 1 is finding out what is silly.


Q: He had been playing and feeling great right up until the CT scan. What was his reaction to the news, and how did you handle it with him?

A: Surprised. He was surprised. Immediately I got on a flight and flew to California and took him to the surgeon. We started asking questions. We asked a ton of questions, from about him still growing to everything. Any professional athlete, much less someone as good and as big as him, there's lots of question about, "Is this case down the middle normal, like ones you've seen, or how exceptional is this case?"

- Answer coming next week. 

- Just reading between the lines and don't bet the house, but I'm getting the sense that Sixers may go for another surgery based on the above.  If more than one specialist urges surgery and others don't, one would think the Sixers would be cautious and go with the surgery. If it was just one specialist championing another surgery and everyone else saying it's OK, then this decision would already be made.

- Mention of continued growth is of interest as it might relate to improper healing.

Not surprisingly, I continue to have the opposite reaction.  I still don't see anywhere in that entire article where they are suggesting surgery is likely.  It actually seems like the discussion is about whether or not he should be green lit to play or not... which is exactly what my impression of this has been from the initial report of his CT Scan.   He feels great and the CT Scan shows there is still more healing to be done... is it fine for him to get out there right now or do they need to stay cautious and wait longer?

I wonder if Boston still has an open offer of Marcus Smart + additional assets for either Noel or Okafor... and I wonder if Smart's solid two summer league games are helping that cause... and I wonder if we'll continue to see cryptic non-reports about Embiid's health until Philly decides on whether or not they intend to roll into next season with all three centers...  or if we'll see them solve that problem soon.

I agree. It seems that Embid feels good and want to play. In the mean time, Philly prefer to be overcautious. No drama here.
As for Smart, like I was saying since March, he's the real deal. If other GMs or fans only start to see this now, I don't care much. It doesn't change the fact that Smart has huge value for Danny and that he won't part with him unless he's blown away by an offer. He's doing exactly the same thing he was doing with Rondo : consistently checking his value with other GMs. We'll hear each year trade rumors about Smart, but we should know better by now.

[colincb]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20150710_Q_A_with_Sixers_general_manager_Sam_Hinkie.html

Q: What is the latest with Joel Embiid? The fact that it's taken some time to give an update, does that mean news isn't favorable?

A: There are meetings with various doctors who have various opinions. There are meetings with our staff about what is best for him. It's still ongoing. I think we're close [to announcing a decision]. My guess is maybe sometime next week. I don't think it will be too much longer. There hasn't been more news since the initial press release. We're just circling around a lot of the experts in this field to get their opinions. That's an important phrase - their opinions - on what course of action is best. They don't all agree sometimes. So that process takes a while.


Q: If some doctors say no and others are OK with him playing, how much of a say does Joel Embiid have in whether he plays or not? What if he says "I want to go''?

A: It's important. He's a part of this. He's a young player, and we have some expertise that we can help him with and ask questions on his behalf. He's an adult so we keep him involved every step of the way. In some ways we drive this process for him, but in some ways we're advocates on his behalf. We try to get great advice for him and for us. We wouldn't let something silly happen in either direction, so Step 1 is finding out what is silly.


Q: He had been playing and feeling great right up until the CT scan. What was his reaction to the news, and how did you handle it with him?

A: Surprised. He was surprised. Immediately I got on a flight and flew to California and took him to the surgeon. We started asking questions. We asked a ton of questions, from about him still growing to everything. Any professional athlete, much less someone as good and as big as him, there's lots of question about, "Is this case down the middle normal, like ones you've seen, or how exceptional is this case?"

- Answer coming next week. 

- Just reading between the lines and don't bet the house, but I'm getting the sense that Sixers may go for another surgery based on the above.  If more than one specialist urges surgery and others don't, one would think the Sixers would be cautious and go with the surgery. If it was just one specialist championing another surgery and everyone else saying it's OK, then this decision would already be made.

- Mention of continued growth is of interest as it might relate to improper healing.

Not surprisingly, I continue to have the opposite reaction.  I still don't see anywhere in that entire article where they are suggesting surgery is likely.  It actually seems like the discussion is about whether or not he should be green lit to play or not... which is exactly what my impression of this has been from the initial report of his CT Scan.   He feels great and the CT Scan shows there is still more healing to be done... is it fine for him to get out there right now or do they need to stay cautious and wait longer?

I wonder if Boston still has an open offer of Marcus Smart + additional assets for either Noel or Okafor... and I wonder if Smart's solid two summer league games are helping that cause... and I wonder if we'll continue to see cryptic non-reports about Embiid's health until Philly decides on whether or not they intend to roll into next season with all three centers...  or if we'll see them solve that problem soon.

Hinkie said maybe next week, but not much longer.

I don't see Smart + meaningful assets being traded for Noel. Advanced stats are similar, but I can see Smart improving more than Noel and by enough to offset the market premium for height. Noel can't shoot from the field or FT line and that's a bad combination historically for offensive improvement. Smart can improve by going to the hole more (as he has in this pre-season) and by taking fewer bad/forced shots than he did in SL game 1 vs UTA for example. The latter is simply a matter of learning discipline.

Smart + meaningful asset(s) for Okafor is a different story. IOW, Okafor has more defensive upside than Noel has offensive upside. Also scoring and height are worth added market premiums.

In any case, doubt Sixers trade within division.