76ers face timeline uncertainty as Embiid and George enter camp without clear returns
Injuries have colored the past several seasons for Philadelphia’s stars, and team leadership declined to set a timetable for their returns as training camp opens.
Training camp opened with the 76ers facing a familiar question: when will Joel Embiid and Paul George be available for the start of the season? Team president Daryl Morey said there would be no timetable and no attempt to create expectations for returns from two stars who will jointly earn about $112 million this season.
Embiid, 31, has not approached the 70-game threshold in a season and has carried injury concerns through recent years. He has logged 58 regular-season games since the start of 2023-24, and last season appeared in just 19 games as he continued to recover from a season-ending knee operation in April. Embiid signed a three-year, $192 million extension roughly a year ago, which keeps him under contract through the 2028-29 season if he opts into a player option worth more than $67 million.
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“I’ve had so many injuries,” Embiid said at media day. “The only thing I’ve always told myself is you can’t give up. I want to play. I want to play every single game.” He added that the team would take a neck-to-toe approach to health, noting it will be unpredictable at times and that they will work with that reality.
George, 35, signed a four-year, $212 million deal as a free agent last summer, but knee and adductor injuries limited his first season in Philadelphia to 41 games. He averaged roughly five rebounds and four assists per game but shot 43 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from three, with a drop in free-throw success to 81.4 percent per game as he found the line 2.6 times per 36 minutes—the worst rate of his career.
“I do think I’ve still got a lot of game in me,” George said Friday at camp. For Embiid, the conditioning plan centers on staying healthy, with Embiid listed at 270 pounds and taking health days as needed.
Embiid’s top-level production came in 2023-24, when he averaged a career-best 34.7 points per game, 11.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists while shooting 52.9 percent from the floor and 38.8 percent from distance in 39 appearances. Last season, however, his averages dipped to 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists in about 30 minutes per game over 19 games, with a drop in field-goal percentage to 44.4 and 3-point percentage to 29.9.
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George’s arrival in Philadelphia marked a high-expectation investment that faced durability hurdles. The season’s shoulder-to-shoulder burden: Embiid and George combined to carry a heavy payroll while their availability remained uncertain entering the year.
Additionally, Philadelphia’s 2024 first-round pick, Jared McCain, started with promise before injuries struck. He tore his meniscus and ended his rookie year prematurely, and he tore the UCL in his right thumb in a workout on Thursday, according to team officials. Head coach Nick Nurse acknowledged that some games will be missed as the team adjusts to the losses and the conditioning timeline.
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“We know there’s going to be games missed,” Nurse said. “We need to be able to forge forward immediately.” The injuries among Embiid, George and McCain underscore the challenge of reassembling a roster around two cornerstone players who have yet to prove consistent availability across a full season. The organization is hopeful that other role players will step up, but the calculus remains uncertain as camp progresses.
The two stars, who will command a combined $112 million this season, are under long-term scrutiny from a fan base eager for returns to form and an organization that has prioritized health management as a cornerstone of its recent strategy. Embiid’s extension ties him to the franchise through 2028-29, with a potential player option in the mid-to-upper $60s million range that could extend his tenure with Philadelphia beyond that date if exercised. The team will keep monitoring and reporting updates as the season approaches, with no single timetable on the horizon.
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The 76ers are expected to build around Embiid and a still-developing group of contributors, but for now the trajectory hinges on the health of their top two stars and how quickly they can return to a steady, durable presence on the court. As camp continues, Morey and Nurse emphasized patience and a pragmatic approach, with the broader goal of returning the team to championship contention even if the path there remains uneven in the early weeks of the season.