Amid a frustrating, injury-plagued season, Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey seemed to give superstar center Joel Embiid a vote of confidence Friday.
According to Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports, Morey said Friday that "Joel is core to everything we do."
Morey also defended the decision to sign Embiid to a three-year $192.9 million contract extension back in September, saying: "We thought it was the right move at the time, we think it's the right move now."
The 30-year-old Embiid has played in only 14 of the Sixers' 50 games this season, due primarily to knee injuries and a foot sprain.
Last season, Embiid was limited to 39 games, and he didn't seem to be his usual dominant self during Philly's first-round playoff series loss to the New York Knicks.
Despite that, Embiid represented Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal in Paris.
It is fair to wonder if that may have set Embiid back in his recovery from knee ailments he dealt with during the 2023-24 campaign, as the 7-footer missed the start of the 2024-25 season due to knee injury management.
Embiid sat out the first nine games of the season, had another seven-game absence in November and December, and missed 15 games in a row from January into early February.
Per PHLY Sports' Derek Bodner, Morey said that while he is confident Embiid's knee issues will improve over time, the healing process has been slower than expected.
Embiid returned to action on Tuesday, recording a 29-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in a 118-116 win over the Dallas Mavericks, but he subsequently sat out the second leg of a back-to-back on Wednesday.
Entering this season, Embiid had earned seven consecutive All-Star selections, plus he won the scoring title in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, and he was named the 2022-23 NBA MVP.
When he has played, Embiid has put up solid numbers this season with 24.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, although they pale in comparison to the previously four seasons, which saw him collectively average 31.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per contest.
Although the Sixers have never made it past the second round of the playoffs during Embiid's career, hopes were high when Philadelphia signed Paul George this past offseason to play alongside Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.
Both Embiid and George have missed a lot of time this season due to injuries, though, causing the 76ers to perform well below expectations.
At 20-30, the Sixers are currently 11th in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the 10th-place Chicago Bulls.
Philadelphia is still in good position to make a run at the postseason play-in tournament and make the playoffs that way, but as a low seed, they would have to go through a gauntlet of top teams that includes the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Knicks.
That likely means a deep playoff run won't be in the cards for the Sixers this season, even if Embiid stays healthy the rest of the way, but Morey seems confident that Embiid is still capable of leading the franchise to great things in the future.
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