Montrezl Harrell's Playing Status vs. Cavs on Monday

On Monday morning, it was revealed that Philadelphia’s All-Star center Joel Embiid did not make the trip to Cleveland with the team on Sunday.

As the Sixers have a plan in place to offer Embiid rest throughout the offseason, missing Monday’s game is all a part of the plan. Therefore, Embiid has been ruled out for Monday’s rematch against Cleveland.

In addition to Embiid, the Sixers will be without one of their backup centers, Montrezl Harrell. On Sunday, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Harrell is dealing with an intercostal strain. Therefore, he’s listed as day-to-day and will not play in Monday’s game.

Harrell made his Sixers debut last Monday against the Brooklyn Nets. He was also the third center to take the floor in last Wednesday’s first matchup between the Sixers and the Cavs.

Over his two-game run with the Sixers so far this offseason, Harrell has averaged 14 minutes on the floor. The veteran big man has put up 11 points per game while collecting four rebounds per game.

With Harrell out of the mix on Monday, the Sixers will likely start the third-year center/forward Paul Reed. And when Reed comes off the floor, he’ll be backed up by the second-year center, Charles Bassey.

Although Bassey appeared in the Sixers’ first preseason game against the Nets as the third center with Embiid out, he failed to see the floor against the Cavaliers when the All-Star big man returned to the lineup to take some of the minutes away from the five spot.

Now that both Embiid and Harrell are out on Monday night, the young Bassey will have a prime opportunity to showcase his development as he’ll get all of the backup center minutes.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.