Is Brett Brown's Minutes Plan for Joel Embiid Still on Track?

Before the Philadelphia 76ers took off to Orlando for the season's restart, the team's head coach Brett Brown mentioned he would like to see Joel Embiid play 38 minutes-per-game during this year's playoff run.

Knowing that over the last two seasons, Embiid has averaged just 32 minutes-per-game in 19 postseason matchups, Brown's bar for Embiid is set quite high. While it's not going to be easy to have Embiid average nearly 40 minutes-per-game, the Sixers head coach believes his All-Star center is on the right track so far.

"I hope [Joel Embiid can play 38 minutes-per-game]," Brown said on Tuesday morning before the team took the court for practice. "His fitness base has been well earned. I don't know what footage is coming out of our practices, but I will tell you when you go up and down and watch Joel move and watch him run -- there is zero doubt that he [has] put in a lot of time to arrive in Orlando in the shape that he has arrived into."

This past Sunday morning, Brown specifically singled out Embiid as he believes the Sixers starting center's condition has looked fantastic. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Brown believes his superstar big man is on pace to see his postseason minutes reach a number we've never seen before.

While Brown did seem to want to backpedal on his 38-minute goal a bit on Tuesday, the Sixers' head coach decided to keep his minutes plan for Embiid the same. "I think that Joel's health and fitness from what I've seen -- I think he can attain that number I have said," Brown stated. "I hope to play him somewhere in that range. You know, 38 [minutes] is probably ambitious, but I said it, and I'll own it. I think his fitness base can only improve." 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_