Doc Rivers politely scoffed at the question about watching another injury-plagued season for Joel Embiid unfold from afar. “It’s been easy for me,” said Rivers, the former 76ers coach who now leads the Bucks.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Philadelphia 76ers have had to battle through most of the season without their superstar big man, Joel Embiid, and it has caused them to fall short in a season filled with high expectations.

Joel Embiid's ongoing knee issues should alter the Sixers' strategy heading into the NBA trade deadline, as they now have far less incentive to make a win-now move.

The center's contract becomes more of an albatross with every game he misses, every night that he happens to suit up and ends up hobbling from one end of the court to the other.

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, who has missed the last six games with a sprained left foot and has appeared in only 13 of the team's 39 games this season, will be sidelined for at least another week,

Joel Embiid has only played 13 out of a possible 39 games thus far and that number isn't going to increase for at least another 7-to-10 days as the Sixers will re-evaluate him then amid his knee troubles.

The news arrived after Embiid missed the previous six games because of a sprained left foot. The seven-time All-Star has only played 13 games this season because of the sprained foot, knee swelling, left knee management, a right sinus fracture, and a three-game suspension.

Sixers center Joel Embiid will miss at least three more games because of left knee swelling, the team said Friday.