Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid Set For Summer League

In the 2014 NBA Draft, recent history repeated itself for the bottom-feeding Philadelphia 76ers, as they walked away from the draft with a big man who wouldn’t register a single minute of action in the upcoming season.

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Just as it was with Nerlens Noel in 2013, who sat out the entire 2013-14 campaign recovering from a torn ACL he suffered as a freshman at Kentucky, Joel Embiid has been sidelined from the moment he became a 76er, while he recovered from a repaired stress fracture in his left foot.

But after what felt like a never-ending view from the sidelines as he recovered from his foot fracture, Sixers’ CEO Scott O’Neil emphatically responded to the question of whether or not Embiid will play in the upcoming Summer League with a simple few words, “He will. Yes he will.”

Hearing this news is sure to provide plenty of excitement and relief to the Philadelphia faithful, especially after the numerous negative reports that surfaced surrounding Embiid as he recovered. Reports such as those surrounding Embiid’s questionable work ethic and his weight gain that was said to have pushed him to nearly 300 pounds all raised red flags.

Embiid also ended up back in a walking boot the day after showing a slight glimpse of his unreal athleticism in a Vine that went viral, although, he was out of the walking boot a day later.

But since those scattered incidents, it’s been all good news for the Sixers’ 7-footer. Embiid had the amount of time he was allowed to participate in drills increased, he was then cleared to compete in 3-on-3 settings, and now and most importantly, Embiid was given the green light to play in the NBA Summer League in July.

With Embiid now set to make his NBA debut in the Las Vegas Summer League beginning July 6, the excitement that surrounded the Cameroon native in simple pre-game warmups is going to soar in the coming months, as noted by O’Neil, per theintell.com:

"“You saw him (work out pregame), I saw him and a couple hundred fans saw him each night,” said O’Neil, the team’s CEO. “There’s definitely an excitement around Joel that’s pretty palpable.”"

After all of the waiting, the basketball world will finally get an NBA glance at the guy who has drawn wide comparisons to Hakeem Olajuwon, but it would be completely unfair to expect anything spectacular out of Embiid in the Summer League.

The primary focus will be getting Embiid into shape for competitive basketball again, giving him a feel for the talent level in the NBA and most notably, looking for Embiid to successfully complete the Summer League circuit without aggravating any of his previous injuries.

Mar 7, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (left) and center Joel Embiid (right) share a laugh during warm ups before a game against the Atlanta Hawks at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

If Embiid is able to do each of those tasks in the Summer League, the excitement for his initial debut to professional basketball will pale in comparison to that of when the Sixers fans, management and coaching staff insert Embiid into the starting lineup with Noel and their lottery pick from the upcoming draft in next season’s home opener.

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Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid Set To Play In Summer League

By Cody Daniel | Apr 25, 2015

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