Sixers' Ben Simmons is on Pace to Return vs. Spurs on Sunday

Just as the Philadelphia 76ers lose one star, they will probably get another back. For the last couple of outings, the Sixers didn't have Ben Simmons available to them. Fortunately, the veteran guard wasn't dealing with any injury.

Instead, he was in the NBA's health and safety protocol due to contact tracing, but he consistently tested negative for COVID-19, which is always a good sign.

Despite never actually testing positive since coming in close contact with the virus last week, Simmons was forced into a seven-day quarantine, which was lifted on Saturday. Since his quarantine started, Simmons missed the Sixers' back-to-back road trip against the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards.

Without Simmons, the Sixers went 2-0. Unfortunately, the team suffered a big loss during Friday's matchup against the Wizards. Midway through the third quarter, Sixers center Joel Embiid went up for a difficult but explosive dunk.

After throwing it down, the big man landed awkwardly and ended up injuring his knee. As expected, the Sixers ruled him out for the rest of the matchup as the four-time All-Star needed to undergo an MRI to see if he suffered any structural damage.

The good news; Embiid's MRI came back clean as there was no structural damage. The bad news? He's still out for at least two weeks. Now, it's Ben Simmons' time to take over and lead the 76ers, starting on Sunday.

While Simmons isn't greenlit to go just yet, the 76ers listed him as probable on the injury report as early as Saturday night. Very rarely do players miss a matchup when they are upgraded from out to probable. Therefore, there's a good chance Simmons is back in action on Sunday night.

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