Daryl Morey provides bold claim on recovering Sixers star Joel Embiid
Daryl Morey provides bold claim on recovering Sixers star Joel Embiid
The Philadelphia 76ers are looking to move on following a disappointing 24-58 season. Following a busy 2024 offseason which included landing the big free agency prize in the form of Paul George, and a slew of proven veterans in this league, the Sixers were thinking championship.
Instead, nothing came to fruition as injuries decimated the roster and coach Nick Nurse and Co. suffered through a miserable season. The plan was for George to join Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to lead a deep playoff run, but that ended up not working out.
Embiid, especially, played only 19 games due to a bothersome left knee injury and the big fella had to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery in April. It is the second procedure Embiid has undergone on the knee over a span of 14 months and it is fair to wonder if he will ever get back to the same level he was before.
However, President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey had a bold claim on the recovering Embiid when he hopped on the "Rights to Ricky Sanchez" podcast:
If Joel comes back, it's going to be at a very high level. I actually don't see a scenario where he's fading...I understand that wasn't his best year. My point is different though. My point is I see him playing at a high level, and that's so important to him that he will either get himself there or not. That's my feeling. I think he views himself correctly as an MVP-level guy. And I don't—yeah, I mean obviously this is up to him—but I don't see these scenarios where he's in a mode of a much lesser version.
Embiid struggled through the 19 games he played in 2024-25. He averaged 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, but he shot only 44.4% from the floor and 29.9% from deep as it was obvious that the knee was bothersome. One has to hope that he can fully recover and get back to the level he was once at when he was one of the best players in this league.
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