Joel Embiid, the 76ers‘ pillar, has already made enough headlines this season concerning his knee injury. It seems like he’s the poster boy of promising careers hampered by the injury demon. ESPN’s Shams Charania has further put his season in doubt after confirming the possibility of a second surgery after regular injections didn’t do the trick. While it might look like he’s just an unnecessary asterisk on the payroll from the outside, they are in no hurry to offload their main man.

While someone as reliable as Charania did touch on a follow-up surgery, other sources mention a similar route not to be taken by the Sixers. They currently sit 12th in the East, with playoffs seeming like a far-fetched notion. The logical route would be to offload a nearly $193 million injury-prone risk, but logic doesn’t necessarily win you titles. Despite a 20-38 record, they sit just 2.5 games out of 10th place, which would guarantee them a play-in spot. And they feel that Embiid’s part to play in the ‘process’ still holds an ounce of water.

Trading him would’ve opened up a huge wave of possibilities for Philadelphia. Sources say that they could’ve extracted every possible draft pick the New York Knicks had before they ended up with Mikal Bridges from the Nets and Karl-Anthony Towns from the Timberwolves. And if Embiid ever reached the trade market, the Knicks were the direct threat to pounce on the opportunity. But they’ve made their stance clear now- he isn’t going anywhere. JoJo still has unfinished business with Philly.

Ever since he was selected as the third overall pick in the 2014 draft by the 76ers, JoJo has played like he has a point to prove. Nick Nurse certainly values his contributions, saying “Joel said he’s excited by the future of the team because of his partnership with Tyrese Maxey. He thinks the Sixers have an amazing group of guys right now.” There are two sides to the argument regarding the Sixers’ decision to forgo trading Embiid when they had the chance. I guess only time will tell if they picked the right one.

PHLY Sports insider confirms surgery for Sixers guard

Joel’s injury has taken the heat off the rest of the Sixers’ injury list, for better or for worse. Someone who’s had similar dealings with the injury demon has been SG Eric Gordon. He last played for them on 8th February in their 125-112 loss to the Detroit Pistons, after which he was confirmed to have suffered a right wrist sprain. According to PHLY Sports reporter Kyle Neubeck, he just underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist, rendering him unavailable for the regular season.

His post on X(formerly Twitter) read, “Eric Gordon underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist yesterday. He will be re-evaluated in approximately three months and updates on his status will be provided as appropriate.”

Gordon has career averages of 15.3 points, 2.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 925 games with the Clippers, Pelicans, Rockets, Suns and 76ers. The 36-year-old veteran’s contributions to the Association have gone under the radar a little bit. This maybe due to his timeline coindicing with players of his age setting irrefutable legacies in the league like Steph Curry and LeBron James. But he’s a vital part to Nick Nurse’s ship and will be missed in their hopeful play-in run.

The 76ers will be hoping the sources’ words to be golden if they think they have a shot in the play-ins. Eric Gordon’s surgery is a blow to their season. It’ll take a miracle for Joel Embiid to return fully fit in time for his services to make sense, but they’re willing to take that chance after breaking news on his trade rumours.