Sixers’ response to owning a big guy On Sunday, Joel Embiid returned to practice.

NJ — Camden Joel Embiid, who is still recovering from surgery on February 6, was able to practice with the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday for a few non-contact drills. He still has to heal from his left knee’s meniscus injury.

While having Embiid participate in practice does not guarantee that he will soon return to the floor, it does give the team a boost when the big guy participates. The Sixers benefit much from his simple presence because he leads the team and is without a doubt its finest player.

“I thought he looked pretty good,” Cam Payne grinned. He looked really fantastic for his first appearance, guy. He draws attention of interest in this area. Thus, it will likely make our jobs a little bit simpler.

Payne, who was acquired at the deadline from the Milwaukee Bucks, has not yet shared the court alongside Embiid. As he progresses and becomes more integrated with the Sixers on the floor, he needs to spend some time practicing with him.

Without Embiid, Philadelphia is 11–22 on the season, and they have missed him in a number of ways. The big guy scores 35.3 points a night, obviously. Any team would miss that, but the Sixers are particularly lacking in one area, and it’s not his scoring.

As Nic Batum put it, “It’s difficult to not play with him when you have a team built around one guy who pretty much gravitates all around, but like I said, something that I’m so impressed by him this year was his playmaking.” Yes, he does score thirty-five points a night. That may seem absurd, but he has improved in his playmaking—that is, in how he performs for the other guys. It’s a much underappreciated thing.