NBA TODAY | “76ers no longer have a chance to win” – Perk on Joel Embiid’s return may be too late

NBA TODAY | “76ers no longer have a chance to win” – Perk on Joel Embiid’s return may be too late

From college to the NBA a fun weekend of Hoops welcome to NBA Today presented by Levis I’m Malika Andrews and the countdown to the postseason it is on we’re only two weeks away from the end of the regular season there are so many questions right that still need to be

Answered but we may be getting an answer to one of the biggest questions in the Eastern Conference as we say hello and happy Monday to our senior NBA Insider Adrien w naski w Joel embiid he last played in late January and since then the Hope has been he would come back for

The 76ers but we didn’t have a date or timeline until now what more can you tell us he Malika Joel embiid’s return to the Sixers lineup is imminent it could come as soon as Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder back in Philadelphia but the expectation is he will play this

Week the Sixers have games later in the week against Miami then a back toback on the weekend with Memphis and San Antonio I think it’s unlikely you’d see him in a backto back this soon coming back but he’s just ramping up his conditioning and feeling like he was in shape that

Knee has been cleared and you know the expectation is uh that Joel embiid could be back as soon as tomorrow we’ll know more about his status for the Thunder later today but this is a player Malika who when he left this team in late January was on course to be the first

Player since wi Chamberlain to average 35 points 10 rebounds five assists in an NBA season anytime you’re in the same company as Will Chamberlain it is a good thing W thank thank you please do not go too far and be’s return it’s coming at a crucial time for the 76ers because

Philadelphia they have four games this week two games right now they’re two games out of that sixth spot in the East so let’s welcome in the rest of our panel look who is here in Los Angeles our senior writer Zack low NBA champ Danny Green is here with us as well and

Beaming in from htown our resident big man NBA champ in his own right Kendrick Perkins and perk you have been adamant about the Sixers not bringing Joel andb back we have all listened to you say that this season what’s your reaction now that they have announced that he

Could return rather that W has reported that he could return as soon as this week well my feelings are the same but kudos to Joel and B because I know this decision pretty much fell in in his hands and was on him but let me say this

When it comes down to looking at this situation with the Philadelphia 76ers they’re in the playin tournament right now now if Joel embiid is willing to jump off the you know jump into that fire he’s either going to come out looking like a hero or we know the other

Part of it my thing is is this right if he looks anywhere close to the Joe lmb that we saw before the injury how are we going to judge him in the postseason to be fair I feel like if he looks close to the 35 uh points per game

Joel and be then all excuses there are none of them when it comes down from him leading this team in a postseason and making a ser serious run at least getting to the Conference Finals I’m not interested in all that quite yet I want

To see him play and I want to see how he looks because look I I’m going to defer to Joel embiid from what I’ve heard about his people in the Sixers this is a a very careful thought out decision there there’s no rushing here he’s only coming back because they are confident

He can stay healthy and the knee will hold up as far as the postseason all that look they might be locked into eth it’s going to be hard for them to get out of eth they do have an easy schedule but so do the so do the Pacers they don’t have the tie

Breakers and if they’re eighth it’s just a tough road you’re looking at a potential either you win to play in first game and you get Milwaukee in the first round that’s a war you lose the first play and then you win the second one you get Boston in the first round

Are we ready for Boston Philly in the first round of the playoffs with Joel andb but I’ll tell you this this is the wildest of wild cards in the NBA if this dude is 90% of the guy that was running rough shod over the league right they

Have a sh a shot to get beat anybody in a playoff series so they are eighth right now but look at this schedule here it’s very easy the Heat schedule is also very easy the Pacer schedule is also very easy they don’t have the tie break against either team and like two games

With six or seven to go yeah is a lot and like I don’t know if you can just assume that he comes in and plays 35 minutes a game they’re all of a sudden the elite team that they were before yeah I don’t see him playing 35 minutes

Either and quite honestly I think it is a little too late um I think they were expecting to come come back sooner two weeks left in the season it’s not enough to make up uh maybe he might come back to himself but the team around

Him the group around him is not used to playing with 30 games without him those guys have to adjust the coaching has to adjust their all style of play their best bet was for him to come back earlier try to match up with Cleveland in the first round and then hopefully

Build Rhythm but if they have to match up with Milwaukee or Boston it’s an early Kendrick looks befuddled why well I I am befuddled because Zach said the postseason he’s not worried about none of that stuff why not what’s the point of bringing them back with they only

Have seven games left the point of bringing them back is that in the organization they must have the mindset that they actually could do something in the postseason and I can understand that with how vulnerable the Eastern Conference is right now Zack not you Danny I’m talking to Zack because he

Said he wasn’t worried about all yeah the Easter the Easter Su on Monday I’m trying to I’m trying to understand why it’s seven games left in the regular season we should be concerned about de and worried about that I meant I’m not worried about the noise I’m not worried about how are we

Going to judge him what’s his legacy going to be the excuses I’m not worried about any of that I am interested and I guess worried whatever term you want to use about how good this team can be because they were a dominant starting five when they had him when they had De

Anthony Melton we don’t know what his status is but if they have this dude averaging 35 a game a point a minute or 80% or 90% of that they’re a dangerous team FR me I’m just not interested I’m not going into the dialogue of it yet because let me see him play Let’s

Fingers cross he’s healthy and all of that but let’s say somehow go ahead Kendrick no go I mean that we all want to see what he looks like when he tomorrow night to see how we’re going to judge him that’s why I said in all

Fairness we have to see it because if he looks like the Joel andb we saw before injury then he has no excuses going into the postseason cuz he came back well this is part of jumping in the fire to that point bring Adrien W narowski back into the conversation who’s been

Standing by W how confident are the 76ers they’re getting that full strength Joel and be back listen they have really liked what they have seen anybody who’s watched Joel embiid work out lately uh he looks ready to play to them but he’s been out a long time he is coming off of another

Knee procedure uh it is not easy to just walk back into an NBA season right before the playoffs and be back in an MVP form which he was and remember the other thing he left a team that didn’t include buddy heeld didn’t include Kyle Lowry he’ll get to play for those with

Those guards for the first time in this window before as Zach said probably the play in tournament uh but there is confidence that Joel embiid um can get back and play at a high level but as we have seen with this Philly group they need Joel MV Joel embiid at an MVP level

To really be able to make a run at Boston make a run at Philadelphia that’s going to be really difficult in this short window but the clock is ticking in Philadelphia it’s ticking for this organization it’s ticking in Joel embiid’s career there was an opportunity

To be healthy and come back and play and they’ve got to make a run at it so let’s take a look at the standings to see who they could be matching up with because if it is the Celtics who have clinched that top spot in the East it’s going to

Be very very difficult for them to topple a team that’s been at the top of the NBA all year long then the Bucks they sit at the two seed just a a two and a half games ahead of the Cavaliers you see the Sixers they’re currently in

Eighth they have seven games to go here I think Danny if somehow they were to match up with the Cavaliers you would probably pick the 76ers in that series but it’s going to be an uphill battle for them to get to that matchup yeah only because Cleveland lacks The

Experience that’s the only reason why and you have Joel embiid I don’t think they have anybody to guard him um in that and also Cleveland has their own injury issues which Donovan Mitchell in and out of lineup EV Moi in out of lineup but Philly’s definitely tough

Enough can score enough and we have everybody healthy but like w said it’s going to be interesting to see how Kyle Lowry uh the guys that weren’t there before buddy heel to both play with Joel um so yeah this is going to be a matchup

That they would like to get so if they can catch Indiana if not it’s going to be a tough said early playoffs rthm but the only way they can build Rhythm and get Joel back in good shape and be able to get to the Eastern Conference Finals

If they get a easier match up in the first round usually we ask for a percentage chance but a Zach centage chance that they could give the Celtics a run for their money in the first round Zack sented I was trying to come up with something better than that I need

Another couple well first the other difference between seven and six is not just Milwaukee Cleveland it’s a week off before you get to play in the playoffs versus the play in tournament uh what does give to give Boston a run in the first round what does that mean are they

The biggest threat to the Celtics no milwauke biggest threat to the Celtics my percentage chance if you’re talking like tough six game series or seven game series and they lose or win h 27.8% chance 27.8 I appreciate the zision there the Precision in all of that uh perk last word on

This they’ll loseing five if they matched up with the Boston Celtics it’ll be Celtics in five other way that Lin up yeah that’s about a 27.8% chance if you’re doing the converion put Joel and be in the pick and roll and they go test out his conditioning in his lateral

Movement and rightfully so well the the 76ers are not the only ones that could would have a bit of an uphill battle in the postseason the Los Angeles Lakers do as well and coming up on NBA today yesterday LeBron James he hit the record books again while Stephen company passed

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NBA TODAY | “76ers no longer have a chance to win” – Perk on Joel Embiid’s return may be too late