PHILADELPHIA -- As the Philadelphia 76ers head into another season and another chase for the Larry O'Brien trophy, one of the main focuses will be how they manage Joel Embiid and his health.
Obviously, Embiid has had a fantastic week of training camp. He has had a summer to just workout and focus on his body rather than having to rehab a nagging injury and the Sixers will benefit from that. His teammates have noticed a big difference with him and President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey has been happy with what he's seen from his star big man, but obviously, there will be a plan for how they manage him.
"We got a plan together, and he's been in every single drill, every single practice," said Gansey before the team's Blue X White scrimmage
on Saturday. "So there's been no restrictions. Obviously, worked super hard this summer. He told me he was motivated. He wanted to have a great year, and he's showing it out there. Looks a little bit lighter, obviously, but the skill level is still there. I mean, some of the stuff he does now seeing it in person, like it's incredible to watch some of the stuff he does on the floor. So we're excited about him, and he's been good this first week."
In terms of that "plan", Gansey didn't delve too much into it, but the Sixers have an idea of what they want to do with him in terms of his workload. Obviously, Philadelphia has a coach in Nick Nurse who dealt with load management of a star in the form of Kawhi Leonard during his time with the Toronto Raptors. It's all about taking it in chunks and seeing how Embiid handles the work he has put in.
"Simon (Rice), you know, from our medical team, me, myself, him, coach, we've been talking about it all summer, just trying to figure out a plan," Gansey added. "The best thing for him this summer to obviously play as many games as he can, but also be healthy and be consistent throughout the whole year. Because hopefully we're playing into May and June, and hopefully he's in those games and he's healthy and at his best."
One has to wonder if Embiid can stay healthy and continue to make strides in that area, that the plan could be tweaked a bit. Maybe he can play in back-to-backs or up his minutes or the number of his games played. It all depends, but Gansey at the moment just wants to focus on the team's plan.
"I think just for us, it's like, stick to the plan," Gansey finished. "Obviously, subject to change how things go, but it's been a good first week. The plan's been going well this first week, and obviously, have the scrimmage today (Saturday), day off tomorrow (Sunday). So get to Monday and then evaluate because I think with him, it's just kind of day to day and just seeing how he's feeling."
The Sixers will open the preseason on Monday against the New York Knicks.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Mike Gansey discusses plan for Joel Embiid, health of Sixers star
