The Philadelphia 76ers are still trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together as they look to chase an NBA championship over the next couple of seasons. The starting five played together for the first time in the preseason on Thursday.
Philadelphia has put together a solid roster, but some concerns are starting to arise. It all started with Joel Embiid and LeBron James having an incident after the center reportedly showed up late to practice.
“They are, they're raving about how he's been so far. Obviously, it's only a week of camp. But I had somebody tell me before the game that they were out ready to practice and Joel Embiid walked out on the court a couple minutes late," New York Knicks commentator Mike Breen said on the air.
Since then, the incident has been denied. Embiid has also commented that he feels good health-wise.
“Pretty good," Embiid said. "Not bad. I don’t know, that’s probably (he took a pause), I said I would never dunk again. In the moment, he did block me the first time so I was kind of pissed off about it. So I was hoping that he would jump again, so that’s why I went for it. But, yeah, that’s probably the last dunk of my career.”
While Embiid says he is healthy, NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins doesn’t believe the center looks good at all.
“I didn't like the way that Joel Embiid looked last night. I didn't like the way that he was getting up and down the floor...to me, he wasn't moving well, which pointed to me that says LeBron James is gonna play a lot of center position this year. LeBron James is gonna have to and guess what? The Philadelphia 76ers actually could win the Eastern Conference this year, and make it to the NBA Finals with LeBron James playing majority of the center position,” Perkins said.
There is plenty of reason for concern, as Embiid is going to be a major part of the team. However, his health is not something that can be ignored. The center could simply still be getting acclimated, but his movement is something to watch as the preseason continues.
If LeBron James has to play center for a significant portion of the season, it might not be exactly what the 76ers want. However, if that is what the situation requires, the team will have to adjust. Embiid's movement has raised some concerns, and that is not an encouraging sign for Philadelphia.
