Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m going to spend the rest of the day trying to figure out what happened in sports while I was out of the country last week. 

In today’s SI:AM: 

🤕 Surgery for Embiid?
🐏 Latest on Stafford
🔥 Eight pitchers bringing the heat

Might be best to pack it in

The Philadelphia 76ers lost a heartbreaker to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday as their best player, Joel Embiid, was relegated to the bench for the entire fourth quarter. And now, they may be without Embiid for even longer. 

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Sunday evening that Embiid is “considering alternative options, such as surgery, for his injured left knee.” Embiid has been receiving regular injections in his knee in an attempt to remain on the court, but he’s still far from 100%. 

Embiid has dealt with a left knee injury all season long and as a result has played in only 19 of Philadelphia’s 56 games. And when he has been on the court, he hasn’t been the same player who was named MVP just two years ago. On Saturday, Sixers coach Nick Nurse chose to bench Embiid for the entire fourth quarter, saying that he felt the lineup featuring Guerschon Yabusele at center “was just playing so well together and had a good feel for the game.” Yabusele was on the court when Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton collected a rebound and scored the game-winning tip-in as time expired. 

The fact that Nurse felt like Yabusele, a journeyman who spent the past five seasons playing in Europe, was a better option than the former MVP says a lot about how Embiid’s season is going. The left knee injury has him playing at a severely diminished level. He’s averaging 23.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, well below his career averages, and has the worst field goal percentage of his career (.444). 

Embiid’s combination of unavailability and ineffectiveness isn’t the only problem plaguing the injury-ravaged Sixers. Paul George is playing through groin and finger injuries that have required pain-management injections in order to keep him on the court. Promising rookie Jared McCain is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery. Eric Gordon has missed the last four games with a sprained wrist, and there is no timetable for his return. Kyle Lowry is dealing with a hip injury that has limited him to 33 games this season. 

This is shaping up to be Philadelphia’s worst season since the dark days of the infamous Process. The last time the Sixers finished a season fewer than 12 games above .500 was 2016–17, when they went 28–54. That was Embiid’s rookie season, when he played 31 games after sitting out the first two seasons of his career with foot injuries. Since then, the Sixers’ fortunes have largely been dictated by Embiid’s health. When he’s at the top of his game, he’s one of the most dominant players in the NBA and makes the Sixers an instant championship contender. When he’s hampered, the Sixers are in trouble. 

Saturday’s loss dropped the Sixers to 20–36 on the season. They’re now in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and 1.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the final spot in the play-in tournament. With the team’s season teetering on the brink, it may make sense for Embiid to just have the surgery and shut it down. Rather than engage in a pillow fight with the Bulls and Nets for the right to maybe have a chance to get your butt kicked in the first round of the playoffs by either of the East’s dominant top two teams, the Sixers would be smart to let Embiid have the operation and maximize his recovery time so he can hopefully start next season fully healthy. The other benefit to shutting Embiid down and fielding an inferior team is that the Sixers will have to send their first-round pick in this year’s draft to the Oklahoma City Thunder if that pick falls outside of the top six. As it stands now, Philadelphia has the sixth-worst record in the league. 

Regardless of what Embiid and the Sixers choose to do, this has been an immensely disappointing season for both parties. After a torn meniscus in his left knee limited Embiid to 39 games last season and the Sixers were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the New York Knicks, Philadelphia went out and signed George in free agency to pair with Embiid and burgeoning star Tyrese Maxey. But those three have only shared the court in 15 games this season and Philadelphia is 7–8 in those games. 

This season is a lost cause for the Sixers, and Embiid’s lingering knee injury casts doubt on whether the team will be able to put together a championship run during his tenure. Embiid will turn 31 next month, while George turns 35 in May. They’re running out of time to lead Philly to a title, but the window is still open. The Sixers’ best chance may begin with shelving Embiid for the rest of the season and embracing the old ways of the Process with a little light tanking before giving it another go next season. 

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) in the tunnel against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Rams and Stafford could be heading for a break-up unless the two sides can find a middle ground on giving the 37-year-old quarterback a hefty raise. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Albert Breer has the latest on the Rams’ standoff with Matthew Stafford and the other teams that are interested in acquiring the veteran quarterback. 

• Can you believe the NFL combine is already this week? Breer spoke with Todd McShay and Daniel Jeremiah about what to watch for in Indianapolis.

• Matt Verderame suggested one move every AFC team should make this offseason.  

• Tom Verducci looks at eight MLB pitchers who showed up to spring training with better stuff than they had last season. 

• Kevin Sweeney spent the weekend at Madison Square Garden, where Duke impressed with a blowout win over Illinois and St. John’s took an important step toward a long-awaited Big East title with a win over UConn. 

• The NFL is considering more changes to its kickoff rules for next season.

• The Yankees are ditching another longstanding tradition after eliminating their anti-facial hair policy last week. 

The top five…

… things I saw yesterday: 

5. Ja Morant’s reaction to getting dunked on by Jarrett Allen. 
4. Ian Happ’s diving catch on a sinking liner. 
3. Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore’s tip to herself for a fastbreak layup. (The Wildcats blew a big lead and lost to LSU, though.)
2. Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of his hat trick against the Oilers, from his usual spot near the face-off dot. He’s now 13 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record. 
1. Sonia Citron’s game-tying shot for No. 1 Notre Dame in the final second of regulation against NC State. The Wolfpack went on to win a thriller in double overtime. 


This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Joel Embiid Staring Down Possibility of Another Lost Season .