76ers C Embiid undergoes arthroscopic knee surgery

Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel Embiid underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on his injured left knee on Friday, and the team announced he will be re-evaluated in six weeks, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps.

For the past several weeks, the 76ers and Embiid have been working toward a solution for the knee issues that have dogged him for more than a year and caused him to be ruled out for the season in late February. Those consultations with doctors and specialists ultimately led to the decision for Embiid to have surgery, with the hope being that he can get back to the level he had played at in prior seasons.

"The way I was playing a year ago is not the way I'm playing right now," Embiid said after a 124-104 loss to Boston back in February, shortly before he was shut down for the season. "It sucks. ... I probably need to fix the problem, and then I'll be back at that level. But it's hard to have trust when you're not yourself."

Embiid finished with averages of 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists in just 19 games this season for Philadelphia, while never at any point showing the kind of form he had across the prior two seasons, when he won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award in 2023 and was on pace to become the second player -- along with Wilt Chamberlain -- to average more points than minutes played in the 2023-24 season before Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga accidentally fell on his leg in a game in San Francisco in January 2024.

He had a procedure on his knee in February 2024 and returned in April ahead of the playoffs, where he averaged 33 points, 10.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists in what became a six-game loss to the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs last spring.

Embiid then went on to play with Team USA in the Paris Olympics, though for much of the summer, he struggled outside of playing a significant role in Team USA's fourth-quarter comeback against Serbia in the tournament's semifinal game.

But after he and the team entered the season with championship aspirations, and with a plan to manage Embiid through the regular season by not playing him in back-to-back games, he then missed the beginning of the regular season for the 76ers after his knee didn't respond the way he hoped it would when he returned to the team. He eventually returned on Nov. 12 against the Knicks, playing four games before missing another couple of weeks, and then sat out for a month with both knee and foot issues in January 2025 before returning for his final stint of the season in February.

It has been a disastrous season for not just Embiid, but the 76ers as a whole. The team's prized free agent acquisition, Paul George, has also been shut down for the season and had his own struggles across the campaign, averaging 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting 43% overall and 35% from 3-point range -- all significantly down from his numbers with the LA Clippers over the past couple of seasons.

Star guard Tyrese Maxey also struggled with his shooting, posting a career-low 43.7% mark overall and 33.7% from 3 -- his lowest number since his rookie year -- while playing in 52 games before being ruled out for the season with a finger issue. And Jared McCain was easily the leading contender for Rookie of the Year when he suffered a torn meniscus in December and saw his season cut short by injury, as well.

Philadelphia's hope now will be that all of this losing will allow the 76ers to keep their first-round pick, which is top-six-protected in this year's NBA draft. If the pick remains in the top six, Philadelphia will keep it. If it is 7 to 30, it will go to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the Al Horford-Danny Green swap five years ago.

The hope will be not only to hang onto that pick and add another young player with high upside to the roster, but also get the collection of injured players back next season, and once again attempt to be a team capable of being a factor in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Those hopes, however, will begin and end with Embiid's health, as he has four years and well over $200 million remaining on his contract with the 76ers.