NBA rumors: Doc Rivers 'hopeful' Joel Embiid can return in the playoffs, but not sure

More on Joel Embiid Injury

Adrian Wojnarowski: Joel Embiid will be doubtful for Game 5, sources tell ESPN. He had an MRI on his right knee today, and is expected to be evaluated further in next day.
Noah Levick: Doc Rivers says he thinks Matisse Thybulle (left hand swelling) is 50-50 for tonight's game vs. Orlando. He believes Joel Embiid, Furkan Korkmaz and Shake Milton will be available.
Justin Grasso: Joel Embiid, Furkan Korkmaz, and Shake Milton are probable tonight. Matisse Thybulle is questionable #Sixers
Noah Levick: Ben Simmons (illness) is out tonight, Doc Rivers says tonight. Joel Embiid will play. Rivers says he's counting on Tobias Harris and Seth Curry being available.
Noah Levick: Joel Embiid (left knee recovery) and Seth Curry (left hip flexor recovery) have been added to the injury report as questionable. Tobias Harris (right knee soreness) and Ben Simmons (illness) remain questionable.
Derek Bodner: The Sixers say that Joel Embiid (left knee bone bruise) is progressing well and has resumed on-court basketball activities, while ramping up his conditioning. The next update will be provided as appropriate.
MVP candidate Joel Embiid is expected to be reevaluated at the end of the week for the bone bruise on his left knee. Embiid has been out since March 12. There is no established return date for the Philadelphia 76ers All-Star. The organization will be extremely cautious and wait patiently until he’s back to MVP form physically and mentally, league sources told Yahoo Sports. The objective is to make sure he’s 100 percent ready to go for the playoffs, sources said.
Justin Grasso: Doc Rivers says Joel Embiid is great and happy that his injury wasn’t as bad as everybody thought it was. “He was in a pretty good place,” Rivers said. #Sixers
Keith Pompey: Sources confirm that Joel Embiid’s MRI revealed a no structural damage to the Sixers center’s left knee and that he has a bone bruise. There is no timetable for his return. @Ramona Shelburne and @Adrian Wojnarowski first reported this news.
Adrian Wojnarowski: ESPN Sources with @Ramona Shelburne: Philadelphia Sixers star Joel Embiid's MRI showed no structural damage to his left knee, just a bone bruise. ACL and meniscus are fine. No timeline yet on a return.
He is still expected to miss time with the bone bruise, sources said, but there's significant relief within Sixers that the injury isn't something much worse. Embiid left Friday night's game when he hyperextended his left knee after landing with all his weight on his leg after a dunk in the third quarter.
Embiid had a similarly scary situation last month when he hyperextended his right knee in an awkward fall against the Portland Trail Blazers after blocking an Enes Kanter layup. In that game, Embiid returned a few minutes later and dominated, scoring 31 first-half points in a matchup Philadelphia eventually lost.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Philadelphia's Joel Embiid will undergo an MRI on his left knee, sources tell ESPN. He left tonight's game vs. Washington after a hard fall to floor.
Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers said he's "hoping for the best" as the team waits for an MRI on Joel Embiid's hyperextended left knee, which he suffered after landing with all his weight on his leg after a dunk in the third quarter of Friday night's 127-101 win over the Washington Wizards. "[He] just fell awkwardly," Rivers said, adding that Embiid will have the MRI after the team returns to Philadelphia later Friday night. "Thought there was a little contact when we went up to dunk the ball. Thought he fell with his balance off.
Kyle Neubeck: Tobias Harris on Embiid: “We’re just praying he’ll be okay and be healthy. We know how important Joel is to the team.” Mentions it’s especially tough since he knows how much time and effort Embiid has put into taking care of his body this year.
Rich Hoffman: Joel Embiid on his back: "It was pretty tight, but I just wanted to make sure we got the win." Said he wanted to give it a shot in the second half, but ends with, "I'll be fine."
Justin Grasso: Doc Rivers on Joel Embiid, who is out tonight: “I don’t know if he took a step backwards, [his back] is still sore from the fall.” #Sixers
Justin Grasso: Joel Embiid remains Questionable for the #Sixers tonight vs. #Pacers. Terrance Ferguson (health and safety protocols) and Mike Scott (knee) are out tonight.
Tom Moore: #Sixers coach Doc Rivers expects Joel Embiid to play Wednesday. Said he was 'in and out of practice' today.
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid left after being hit in the right wrist in the first half of the Sixers' 125-121 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday and didn't return. The Sixers said Embiid got an X-ray at halftime that came back negative. Embiid, who is coming off an ankle injury he suffered in the first quarter of Sunday's loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, was already going to be held to limited minutes, so he was kept out the remainder of the game.
The Sixers' number of available All-Stars has dropped from two to zero this week. Joel Embiid left Sunday's game vs. the Portland Trail Blazers in the first quarter with a left ankle injury and the Sixers fell, 124-121. They're now 42-28 and next play the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
"I'm going to learn more physically," Brett Brown said after the game. "I don't know enough to comment on it. ... Joel was fully engaged as a teammate. As it relates to what his injury is or what it actually means, I can't comment. I don't know. But it was great just to see him being a part of the group."
Kyle Neubeck: Joel Embiid began experiencing discomfort in his right calf during Friday’s game vs. MEM and will not play in today’s scrimmage against OKC. Embiid is considered day to day, continues to receive treatment for right calf tightness, and will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
The Athletic: Joel Embiid is hopeful to return on Wednesday against Detroit, sources tell NBA Insider @Shams Charania. More 📝 in the latest Inside Pass: theathletic.com/1659421/?sourc…
This rumor is part of a storyline: 879 more rumors
More HoopsHype Rumors
May 28, 2023 | 10:23 am EDT Update
The early around-the-league reaction to Washington’s hiring of Michael Winger to take over its front office: Pretty much every rival team I’ve spoken to is already expecting aggressive activity from the Winger-led Wizards. Don’t forget, though, that Bradley Beal can’t be in play for a trade unless he wants to be. Beal holds the NBA’s only active and full no-trade clause as he enters Year 2 of a five-year, $251 million contract, so Washington can’t send him anywhere without Beal’s consent. Also TBD: Is Kristaps Porziņģis still a near-lock to receive a contract extension from the Wizards, as it appeared earlier this season, or likely to join the in-demand Kyle Kuzma on the Wizards’ list of marquee unrestricted free agents?
One week after shocking the world in Kaunas with the two-pointer that gave Real Madrid the win against Olympiacos and the 11th EuroLeague in the club’s history, Sergio Llull wrote that history once again. The 35-year-old Spanish veteran just became Real Madrid‘s leading scorer in the ACB. With a three-pointer to give Real Madrid the 25-point lead in the last minutes of the second quarter against Gran Canaria, in Game 1 of the ACB Quarter-Finals between the EuroLeague and EuroCup champions, Sergio Llull overcame Felipe Reyes in this special ranking, crossing the line of 6.019 points.
May 28, 2023 | 7:43 am EDT Update

Mavericks not interested in Kyrie Irving sign-and-trade with Lakers for D’Angelo Russell

A popular topic all week, in the wake of Denver sweeping the Lakers out of the Western Conference finals, was the notion that L.A. could emerge as a potential sign-and-trade destination for Dallas’ free agent-to-be Kyrie Irving. While we await a clear indication about the Lakers’ intentions there, with no verifiable signal to date that pursuing Irving is among their offseason priorities, league sources say that the Mavericks would have no interest in a sign-and-trade with the Lakers that features D’Angelo Russell as the primary Dallas-bound player. All indications are that the Mavericks remain intent on re-signing Irving.
The former No. 2 overall pick has already expressed a desire to return to Los Angeles, but his future with the team remains unclear especially after Darvin Ham decided to bring him off the bench in Game 4 against the Denver Nuggets. Russell acknowledged it was a tough situation for him but wanted to remain as professional as possible about it. “I mean, it was tough,” Russell admitted. “It was tough to agree with it obviously, but in a short period of time to not become a distraction to your teammates and to everybody else that’s preparing just like you to get the one goal done which is win. I knew that was where you had to be professional. You can’t be a distraction at this point of the season and things like that, so that’s kind of how I went about it. I wanted to be professional and try to dominate my minutes when there were minutes for me.”
The Celtics had to find their togetherness and it was his job as the OG to make that happen. Horford told Mazzulla to ditch the film session, organizing a team trip to Topgolf instead. They needed to have fun with each other and feel the joy again. “We completely skipped film,” Grant Williams told The Athletic. “We kept basketball away and we just focused on each other and getting that camaraderie and team back. We disconnected from the actual pressures and we were able to just enjoy one another. We’ve done movies before, we’ve done dinners. But that was our first time doing something active like that. Then we hit the film the next day.”