5 reasons the Sixers will make the playoffs by Christopher Kline

The Philadelphia 76ers always are facing issues about injuries no matter what time of year it is, and not surprising Joel Embiid is still the main topic.

The offseason is nearing its conclusion and the hype continues to build for the start of the season for the Philadelphia 76ers.

But as always, the team is fighting off speculation about injuries.

Joel Embiid has yet to be cleared for five-on-five scrimmages after having surgery on his torn meniscus back on Mar. 24, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

It certainly appears Embiid is not yet fully healed, which is concerning because the surgery happened nearly six months ago.

Perhaps a conservative approach

The Sixers have used this approach before when dealing with injuries.

They are more than willing to keep players out (sometimes to a fault) for long periods of time just to make sure the player is 100 percent.

Maybe the team wants Embiid to get in better shape before he steps out on the court against other players.

Any way you want to categorize it, this is not atypical of the Sixers. People shouldn’t start panicking about his health status.

No panic, but show concern

Just like I said we should not panic but we shouldn’t pretend this is a non-issue.

Whenever the words injuries and Sixers are in the same sentence we should always be paying attention.

If Embiid enters training camp without being cleared to scrimmage five-on-five, it’s a tough blow but not a big deal.

But by the time preseason rolls around, Embiid needs to be ready to go.

If he is not ready by the preseason, then panic will start to set in. Missing the entire preseason would likely keep him out of the first few games of the season.

Embiid needs practice time to not only test his mobility, but to develop timing and chemistry with his teammates.

Let’s cross that bridge when we get there, but for now we need to have guarded optimism he will get the all-clear sooner rather than later.