On January 18th, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continues to progress. As the schedule deepens, the rankings on the Eastern and Western Conference standings have gradually stabilized, and the playoff situation is basically clear. However, compared to the Cavaliers and Thunder leading the entire league, teams like the Celtics, Knicks, Grizzlies, and Rockets following closely behind, the 76ers, who spent a whopping $700 million last offseason to create a luxurious trio of superstars, not only failed to perform at the level expected of a championship contender this season, but instead fell to the bottom of the league at the start of the season, currently ranking fifth from the bottom in the East and failing to even make it into the play-in tournament.
In fact, as a frequent participant in the Eastern Conference playoffs over the past few years, the 76ers' level is far from what it is now, especially after absorbing the top-level 3D George, who excels in both offense and defense, during the offseason, along with tough players like Oubre, the 76ers' paper strength is enough to compete with the Celtics. However, no one could have anticipated that after signing a max contract with the 76ers during the offseason, George and Embiid began to stagger their appearances, starting from the preseason, they began to take turns nursing injuries, playing intermittently without regard for the team, and even Embiid was once forced to withdraw from the selection for this season's regular-season awards due to attendance issues.
However, Embiid himself doesn't seem to care about this. He even openly stated that he will adopt load management this season, avoiding back-to-back games to ensure he has a healthier body for the playoffs. But given the current situation of the 76ers, whether Embiid can even make it to the playoffs is a question. Moreover, on January 17th, Beijing time, an ESPN reporter revealed that after completing training with the team, Embiid suddenly felt unbearable swelling in his knee. As a result, the 76ers had to take emergency measures, announcing that Embiid would miss 7-10 days of games before undergoing a new injury assessment.
This means that after suffering four consecutive losses, Embiid is out again due to injury, officially announcing his temporary withdrawal from the team's game plan to undergo off-court rehabilitation treatment. As one of the hottest super centers in the current NBA, the 76ers offered Embiid a three-year supermax contract during the offseason.
But after receiving the top salary, Embiid changed his attitude, not only refusing to participate in back-to-back games but also engaging in active write-offs, tanking, and refusing to play. Watching Embiid's stubbornness, the 76ers' management probably regrets it deeply. Butler was right when he said that Embiid's attitude does indeed have significant problems, taking money without doing the job, which is undoubtedly the most watered-down garbage contract in the NBA, just like Simmons and Leonard next door, who are highly paid but underperform.
It's just that George is suffering, originally thinking that leaving the Clippers to join the 76ers would allow him to team up with Embiid and Maxey to compete for the championship, but now it seems that the drama of leaving the Thunder to choose Leonard is about to be replayed, choosing the wrong teammate again. If he had known, he would have stayed with the Clippers, who could have predicted that Powell would be so fierce this season!