The Sixers have ruled out star center Joel Embiid for the remainder of the 2024/25 season due to his ongoing left knee issues, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link).
“The Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid have been consulting with top specialists regarding ongoing issues with his left knee,” the club’s statement reads. “After further evaluation, it has been determined that he is medically unable to play and will miss the remainder of the season to focus on treatment and rehabilitation.
“We are working with medical experts to determine the exact treatment plan and will update media when we have more information. The team and specialists will continue working with Joel to ensure the best path forward for his long-term health and performance.”
Embiid’s left knee has been a problem since January of 2024, when he sustained a lateral meniscus injury that required surgery. He was able to return last April and played all six games of the Sixers’ first-round playoff series vs. New York in the spring, then suited up for Team USA at the Paris Olympics over the summer.
However, Embiid continued to deal with swelling in the knee in the fall, which delayed his season debut until November 12. In the months since then, he has never looked fully healthy, appearing in just 19 total games and averaging 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 30.2 minutes per game.
While those numbers would be impressive for most players, the scoring and rebounding rates were well below the former MVP’s career averages, as were his 44.4% field goal percentage and 29.9% mark on three-pointers.
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), Embiid has met with more than 10 doctors over the course of the season in an attempt to figure out the best way to reduce – or, ideally, eliminate – the discomfort and swelling in his troublesome left knee.
Embiid told Lisa Salters of ABC/ESPN earlier this month that he may require offseason surgery, but that comment took Sixers staffers by surprises, sources tell Fischer, who hears that another procedure on the knee still isn’t a given. While the 30-year-old big man is still hoping for some sort of “cure-all procedure” that would allow him to return to 100%, there’s no clear consensus among Sixers doctors and medical experts outside of the organization about the best path forward, Fischer explains.
With the Sixers sitting at 20-38 and 2.5 games back of the No. 10 Bulls in the Eastern Conference standings, it makes sense for the club to take a long-term view and shut down Embiid, who is on a maximum-salary contract that includes three more guaranteed seasons beyond this one, plus a player option for 2028/29.
The question now is whether Philadelphia will continue to try to push for a play-in spot or whether the team might also consider holding out Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, both of whom have been playing through health issues of their own. George has taken injections to continue playing through various injuries, including tendon damage in his finger, while Maxey is also said to be battling a finger injury that’s affecting his ball-handling and shooting.
The Sixers will owe their 2025 first-round pick to the Thunder if it lands outside the top six and they currently have the NBA’s sixth-worst record, which will be another factor to consider as they weigh their approach to the rest of the season.
If they finish sixth in the lottery standings, the 76ers would have approximately a 45.8% chance of hanging onto their first-rounder. Those odds would increase to about 64% if they drop to the fifth-worst record in the league and 81.1% if they have the fourth-worst mark.