Joel Embiid's Return Timeline Currently Unknown by the Philadelphia 76ers

Despite being one of the NBA's most talented players of all time, Joel Embiid has simply struggled to stay healthy throughout his career. In his past six seasons, Embiid has played 60 or more games on just two occasions, although his last two seasons have limited him to a total of just 58 combined games.

Last season, he appeared in just 19 games for a Sixers team that dealt with a ridiculous amount of injuries, and heading into the 2025-26 season, things aren't looking much more positive. While there's a belief that with his weight loss, Embiid can be a much sturdier and healthier player, as of right now, according to ESPN's Shams Charania, the team has no idea when he's going to be ready to start playing.

While Embiid is reportedly progressing well, there is no timetable set in stone for the former MVP to return to the court, with the team likely preparing to miss him for significant portions of the season again. In his place, the team has veteran Andre Drummond and Adem Bona ready to step up, but ideally, they can get Embiid healthy and ready to play 60 or more games to lead them back to the NBA Playoffs.

Ultimately, without Embiid, this team will likely never progress beyond good, and even with him healthy, there's still plenty of competition in the East, but for now, the team is simply hoping he'll be back in time for the regular-season opener.