As it turns out, the Nets’ win over the spiraling Philadelphia 76ers last weekend was Joel Embiid’s final game of the season.
The superstar center is “medically unable to play” due to his ailing left knee and will be shut down for the remainder of the season, the Sixers announced Friday.
“We are working with medical experts to determine the exact treatment plan,” the 76ers said in a statement.
It’s a development with significant implications for the Nets — both in the Eastern Conference standings and in terms of draft position.
As losers of nine games in a row, the Sixers (20-38) began Friday a game behind the Nets for the 11th seed in the East.
Both teams are in the mix for the final spot in the Play-In Tournament, which currently belongs to the 10th-seeded Chicago Bulls. The Bulls began Friday with a 1.5-game lead over the Nets and a 2.5-game lead over Philly.
Embiid’s absence further dampens the Sixers’ chances at sneaking into the Play-In Tournament. But it also increases the likelihood that Philadelphia ends up with one of the top picks in this summer’s NBA Draft.
The 76ers own the NBA’s sixth-worst record and thus have the sixth-best odds to land the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery at 9.0%, according to Tankathon. They are one spot ahead of the Nets, who have the seventh-best odds at 7.5%.
Philadelphia has added incentive to lose, considering its 2025 first-round pick is top-six protected.
That means if the Sixers come out of the lottery with a top-six selection, they will keep their pick. But if they end up with No. 7 or worse, the pick will convey to the Oklahoma City Thunder to complete a 2020 trade that sent Danny Green to Philly.
It’s an ideal draft to own a premium pick in, with Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Rutgers’ Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey among the highly touted prospects.
Many prognosticators expected the Nets to be strong contenders for the No. 1 pick after they traded their best player, Mikal Bridges, to the Knicks in the offseason.
Brooklyn also reacquired control of its 2025 and 2026 first-round picks from the Houston Rockets over the summer — a move that seemed to indicate the Nets expected to be picking high.
The Nets traded away Dennis Schroeder and Dorian Finney-Smith in December, then bought out Ben Simmons and waived Bojan Bogdanović in February.
But veterans Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton have made it clear the Nets are not interested in tanking. Brooklyn entered Friday as winners in seven of its last 11 games.
On Friday, leading scorer Cam Thomas returned to face the Portland Trail Blazers at Barclays Center following a 24-game absence for a left hamstring strain. The Nets could get even healthier for the home stretch, with D’Angelo Russell and Noah Clowney potentially returning from ankle injuries next week.
“Injuries are a part of basketball,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said before Friday’s game. “Obviously, you don’t want the major injuries, but we have to have a next-man mentality. If right now we can have everybody back, then it’s gonna be even better, because that creates healthy competition within the group.”
The Sixers are trending in the opposite direction.
Embiid, a seven-time All-Star and the 2022-23 NBA MVP, underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee a little over a year ago, then played in the Sixers’ first-round playoff series against the Knicks and for Team USA in the Summer Olympics.
But throughout this season, that knee clearly compromised Embiid, who ended up playing only 19 games and posted averages of 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 44.4% shooting that paled in comparison to his pre-injury production.
Still, the 76ers went 8-9 with Embiid, even though they lost each of his final five appearances. The last of those came last Saturday, when Embiid sat out for the entire fourth quarter in the Nets’ 105-103 win in Philadelphia.
The Sixers are 12-29 without Embiid this season.
