Sixers' Coach Not Ruling Out Return for Joel Embiid on Friday

Sixers' head coach Nick Nurse isn't against the idea of having Joel Embiid make his return to the court.

Mar 14, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid looks on after the game against the Indiana Pacers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

As things stand, the Philadelphia 76ers have one preseason game left as they continue their ramp-up for the 2025-26 season. In their last match, Nick Nurse opted to use plenty of his starters against the Orlando Magic, as Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr suited up. The pair of starters combined for 29 points against Orlando, en route to a 98-128 Sixers' loss.

This was Philadelphia's third loss of the preseason, which can be attributed to a few things, whether it's their players getting reacclimated after a lengthy offseason or the absence of key players such as Joel Embiid.

The Cameroonian superstar has yet to partake in any of the Sixers' preseason friendlies as he continues to recover from a procedure done on his left knee, which ended his 2024-25 campaign in late February.

just hanging around. pic.twitter.com/uLblcsi5ue

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 12, 2025

This absence from the court didn't stop Embiid from traveling with the team to the Middle East for their matches as part of the NBA's Abu Dhabi Games, as well as partaking in team practices throughout the last few weeks. It didn't even stop the former MVP from making a surprise appearance in the Sixers' annual Blue x White Scrimmage on Sunday.

This appearance in Wilmington hasn't had any negative effects on the Cameroonian, according to the aforementioned Nurse, who felt like he was still able to partake in his planned exercises.

"From all accounts, he responded fine, he was in practice today looking good, feeling good," Nurse stated to the press on Tuesday. "He just did the beginning parts of practice today, but that's as planned, so I think he responded well to it."

Paul George and Joel Embiid going against each other at the end of the Sixers practice session.#sixers pic.twitter.com/hOsrjKSpw3

— Declan Harris (@DecIanH) October 14, 2025

Given that the Sixers play their final preseason match on Friday, Nurse wasn't against the idea of Embiid partaking in the match against the Timberwolves, but he thinks there are some barriers that need to be broken before a decision can be made.

"I think there's some chance, I don't think we're there yet, it's a little early in the week to decide," Nurse stated. "I think it still could go either way, we got some thresholds to get over before we get to that point."

In Embiid's place, Nurse has been using the likes of Dominick Barlow, Adem Bona, Johni Broome, and Andre Drummond to occupy the space under the basket. Philadelphia takes on the Timberwolves at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday night, with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m. EST.