Joel Embiid worked out with seven of his teammates last week at the Sixers‘ practice facility in Camden, writes Adam Aaronson of The Philly Voice. Even with the additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, Embiid’s health is expected to be pivotal to the team’s success. He appeared to be slimmed down in a couple of photos that he posted from the sessions.
Speaking to reporters last week, president of basketball operations Mike Gansey discussed Embiid’s current mindset with the season a little more than two months away.
“He’s just been himself, man,” Gansey said. “I mean, I remember when I got the job, I went over there and he’s like, ‘I want to have a great year. I want to play a lot of games and I want to be back to All-NBA Joel.’ He’s talked the talk and now he’s walking the walk. He’s lost some weight, you saw the pictures. He’s been in the gym. He’s been lifting. So he’s doing all the right things and he’s super motivated and we’re very, very excited.”
Besides winning the prolonged battle for James, Philadelphia also added Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons and Ariel Hukporti in free agency. Gansey said he was focused on building an effective bench unit when the free agent process began.
“We kind of have a big five,” he said. “But it’s just exciting just because we have so much talent, but our depth – getting Anfernee Simons, Dean Wade, getting Hukporti, along with (Dominick) Barlow, Labaron (Philon Jr.) in the draft. I’m just really excited to kind of see how it looks, the combinations, the lineups, the versatility we have. And it’s just – when you have the talent, it’s exciting, and trying to figure it out is the hard part.”
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
