Woj’s Joel Embiid injury update, impact on 76ers’ moves & Giannis’ comments on the Bucks | NBA Today

Woj’s Joel Embiid injury update, impact on 76ers’ moves & Giannis’ comments on the Bucks | NBA Today

In the NBA here 76ers star Joel embiid will undergo a procedure to address a left miniscus injury in the coming days that’s what the team announced on Sunday night the reigning MVP is expected to miss an extended period of time but a more precise timeline isn’t expected until the doctors complete the procedure

As we say hello to our senior NBA Insider Adrian WJ narowski WJ what are you hearing about how long embiid could be out and how that could impact the Sixers actions as we approach the trade deadline Malika right now the Sixers are not closing the door I’m told on a Joel

Embi embiid return this season uh but again at his size and his history with knee procedures uh these putting timelines on these I think before uh the actual surgery uh is difficult to do so they’ll have a better idea that procedure is coming uh this week and there’ll be a better sense but

Philadelphia again they’ve not closing the door on the possibility that they can still get Joel embiid back this team has slipped to fifth place in his absence in the last uh week plus and certainly they have a lot of work to do to keep themselves uh in you know

Relative contention in the East uh hoping that they can get embiid back but certainly devastating for the Sixers for Joel embiid he was on his way perhaps you know to back-to- back MVPs first player since wit Chamberlain to to average 35 15 and five in the league

Right this is a huge blow to the Philadelphia 76ers we’ll wait to see a more precise timeline after that procedure is complete W thank you so very much Brian as you hear all of that information as we know the impact that Joel embiid has been having this year

What do you make of all of this well so Philadelphia is in an interesting position they have the option to just hold their team generally together and they would have 55 million in salary cap room this summer and they if em is indeed out for the year they could use

That opportunity this summer to build the team up around him and then resign Tyrese Maxi that’s 55 million and then in addition keep Maxi that’s a really advantageous position but we didn’t think they were going to go that route because they were in second place in the

East and really looking like they could challenge Boston and they would maybe trade some of the over hundred million dollars they have in expiring contracts to try to supplement this team now so I would argue that how and B comes out of the surgery and the prognosis ahead of

That trade deadline is one of the most important things that’s going to happen in the league this week I would agree with you on that what do you think what direction should Philly be looking to go here Austin I think they continue to stay the course um to Brian’s point they

Have salary cap this this summer you sign back Maxi uh even though they’ve had a great year I think a lot of that’s just due to the Brilliance of Joel um I’ve seen this story already play out before I saw it last year happen when

They had a great year and then they go to the playoffs and I don’t seriously see them beating a Boston I know milwauke struggling right now even with Joel you me even with Joel okay um I I didn’t see them beating Boston and I actually don’t even see them beating uh

Milwaukee despite their troubles right now I really don’t uh I feel there’s no familial tie there that would have you no no no no no no not at all not at all I really don’t believe that I I just but I I like Philly I like their team but

They have the MVP you don’t need to flip the page you have Maxi coming back they have assets that they can move they have salary cap uh this is a team I think next year will be even more in contention to contend I don’t like putting a timeline on Joel’s return he’s

A heavy guy when it comes to knees and feet you don’t ever want to rush those things back especially when he has an injury riddled pass when it comes to those parts of his body so uh I think they got to stay the course yeah I absolutely agree when we talked about

The Sixers earlier on this season I said stick The Landing they absolutely need to do that now we had hoped especially given the nature of what we’ve seen in the Eastern Conference it’s wide open we had hoped that if Joel and beid remained healthy that this would be the time that

They could actually make it to the NBA finals but to me looking at the situation and hearing the word extended to me I think that they have to extend this timeline for JA well he yeah go ahead I will say even though this is a rough news for Philly if they do move

Into the off season with maxi and embiid and 50 million in cap space it would be an extremely attractive place for a player to go abut maybe not even a free agent maybe somebody just says trade me to Philadelphia right to me though what’s disheartening is when you look at

The level that Joel embiid is playing at it just feels like when this happens I completely agree with you it is an attractive destination but when this happens time and time again we’ve talked about it Joel embiid’s Prime is n necessarily the same length as some other superstars that we’ve seen just by

The nature of his injury history and frankly his size and so that’s what’s a little bit disappointing it’s that you hope that this kind of thing that just comes up out of nowhere doesn’t happen again right now it doesn’t matter and I hope everybody in this Lo room feels the

Same way that I feel it does not matter there’s so many things that we are doing right now that we are getting better and the moment everything clicks and our legs are there and our mind are there and guys are healthy and we are you know everybody locked in um I think it’s

Going to go very well I I don’t disagree with that no one’s won a championship in February but the Bucks really struggled down the stretch they had one of their worst quarters in franchise history they were outscored by 27 in the fourth quarter their worst in a final quarter in

Franchise history it was the most they were outscored in any quarter since 2018 and their 13 points were the fewest in any quarter this season so there is a whole lot there what is your biggest concern Austin their identity I want to know their identity they’ve had two

Major shifts in their locker room over the past year they got rid of Drew holiday who was a vocal huge piece to this team I mean this guy was ahead of their defense the head of the snake if you want to say we talk about all these

Clips that we just saw a lot of that starts with keeping the ball in front they have no perimeter defense that’s been an issue for them all year long and a coaching change is not going to fix that it’s going to help uh but that’s which leads me to my other

Point that’s another big change they just got rid of Adrian Grifford a couple weeks ago right so they don’t have an identity yet their offense hasn’t even been fully installed and their defense isn’t where it needs to be and they need perimeter defense that’s just what it is

Yeah respect for speaking the truth right there I see your Rivers um but what I think here you hit it because they can’t keep the ball in front they lose the point of attack you know we see that in scouting reports the point of attack you have to be aggressive in the

Pick and roll situations but instead when you lose the point of attack defensively it opens up everything and then the offense just becomes as big as an ocean for their opponents and so if they are more intentional at pick and roll positions not drop coverage up

There then at least they can force a second or third rotation but you’re right it is an identity crisis I’ve said this and it might be too nuanced having Drew holiday on your team means that you’re up 10 and you’re winning in a convincing fashion having Dame means

That you can win those last second moments but the reason why the Bucks won a championship is because more often than not they weren’t finding themselves in a six-point game four-point game he was the one that really let the other guys shine and it meant that they were

Winning just easily and that’s more important in an 82 Game season so given all of that how do they fix it and how patient will Giannis be all right let’s do good news bad news the good news is is that they are a little bit I know it’s hard to believe because they’ve

Kept keep losing they are a little bit better defensively since the coaching change there’s got there’s been a little bit of progress made which I think is what Yannis is clinging to secondly they have Giannis at tenmo they have Dame lard do you have Giannis anything really

Is possible that’s the good news the bad news is that they have the second hardest schedule the rest of the season so they have and even in this next week they come home from this road trip and they got like a brutal home stand they have very little margin for air and

They’re going to they’re they’re they’re I know they’re technically still in second but they’re really not because they the Cavs have fewer losses and the Knicks have the same so I would not be surprised if they make a move for a guard by Thursday now they have very

Little to trade and if they do do a significant trade they’re going to take away a piece probably somebody who’s won a ring there right um they’re looking for guards who can defend a little bit because as Austin said their perimeter defense just doesn’t stand a chance on a

Night in and Night Out basis and they’re playing guys 30 plus minutes a game who just can’t keep a guy in front of them and so they need to even if they just help a little bit with a with a with a move I think they might be able to give

Themselves a chance it need time we we we overreacted when the Clippers made their trades we dissected every single loss that the Clippers had they’re 25 and5 cents wi the best teams in basketball uh they need time he got there a week ago I know from playing for him and

Playing for a variety of coaches if we’re talking defense I’m sorry I’m only laughing he playing for him not no cuz I did I I mean that’s the only time we’re talking about defensive coaches he’s one of the top tier in the NBA so that has

To translate the problem is to all of you guys points is person is what makes it at the end of day you can have whoever on that sideline you have to have the Personnel on the court right right now if we’re talking perimeter defense they just they don’t have that

And to Brian’s point they got to make a move or sign somebody that at least alleviate that pressure where Dame doesn’t go into a game thinking I got to score and defend and do these things that he’s never done his entire career he’s mostly an offensive player

Absolutely so we’ll see we’re four days away three and a half really from the NBA trade deadline and they as Brian pointed out are limited in the moves that they can actually make but it’s clear that they need to do something the bull announced that Zack LaVine will

Have foot surgery he’s out for the season now he’s expected to miss a total of four to 6 months he finished the season averaging just over 19 points his fewest in a season since 2017 2018 so now the questions start Alex Caruso Zach LaVine what is going on in the windy

City nope they’re not doing it all indications point they’re holding firm there are no indications of Caruso being available there are no indications that they’re going to do something with Demar de rozan they are in Ninth Place uh they have they are 13 and 12 without

Zack LaVine 10 and 15 with them I think they’re riding it out and they’re going to try to make the play and now the one player I could see them moving would be Andre Drummond who is a you know that’s a team actually I think if Philly is

Looking for a stop gap for embiid he was there a couple years ago there’s some there’s a bunch of teams actually interested in Andre Drummond so if they make a move I think there they could maybe make a move with Drummond but I don’t all indications as we see here on

Monday are the Bulls are holding this team together and they want to just try to make the Plan

The NBA Today crew discusses how Joel Embiid’s injury impacts the Philadelphia 76ers, along with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s recent comments.

0:00 Woj on Embiid’s injury
4:41 Giannis’ comments
7:08 Concerns about the Milwaukee Bucks

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