76ers General Manager Elton Brand is confident Joel Embiid will be ready for the playoffs when they begin this Saturday, but he would not fully commit to the All-Star being on the court.
"I'm optimistic that he'll be ready this weekend and he's doing everything he can to get back," Brand said prior to Wednesday's regular season finale when asked if Embiid's health is a question at all. "But of course, he's the major key. We see the difference between when Joel is out there and when he's not."
This prompted a follow up question about whether there's a possibility he won't be ready.
"Again, I'm optimistic he'll be ready this weekend," Brand reiterated.
"So it's possible he won't be," a reporter continued to press.
"It's possible," Brand admitted. "Im optimistic he plays this weekend, but it's a combination of how he feels. I think he'll present well and he'll be ready, but we don't know."
Head Coach Brett Brown was asked about an hour before Brand if he expects his starting five to be ready for Game 1, to which he answered yes. Postgame, however, Brown was asked for a response to Brand's hedge. Brown reiterated that he believes Embiid will play, but following a couple more questions about the Sixers big man, he cut off a question and said he won't be talking further about Embiid.
"The club will make the statement in a clearer way than I guess I have about Joel," Brown emphatically stated. "I'm done with the Joel questions. We'll put something that is fair, and I get your questions, but I'm done answering those."
Embiid will finish the regular season missing 14 of the final 24 games due to a combination of left knee soreness and load management. He only missed four prior to the All-Star break. His conditioning is certainly a concern.
"What we all should be reminded of is look at the games that he has played statistically when he has had rest," Brown said. "They are dominant…They are completely jaw dropping stats."
Brown believes Embiid will be able to handle the postseason schedule. Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and JJ Redick have only played 10 of a possible 28 games together since Harris was acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers. The team is 8-2 in those games. The last time they played together was a 123-110 win over the Brooklyn Nets on March 28.
