Paul George shouldn’t be anticipated to play within the Philadelphia 76ers’ season opener Wednesday in opposition to the Boston Celtics and nonetheless “has some checkmarks he has to hit” in his return to play following the left arthroscopic knee surgical procedure he underwent within the offseason, ESPN’s Shams Charania reviews.
The nine-time All Star’s return might come within the not-too-distant future — “shortly into the common season,” per Charania — and he participated in some five-on-five motion in Thursday’s follow.
“We try to get him via the thresholds of five-on-zero to some smaller-numbered dwell motion yesterday, after which he jumped right into a little bit of five-on-five dwell right now,” coach Nick Nurse stated Thursday. “Simply making an attempt to maintain shifting him in the precise course.”
When requested if there’s optimism about George’s potential availability for the season opener, Nurse appeared skeptical.
“Nah,” Nurse stated. “Yesterday was his first day dwell — I imply small-number dwell — and right now was a brief quantity of five-on-five, so we’ve got to simply preserve ready.”
The Dialog: Is there any hope for Joel Embiid and the Sixers?
James Herbert
George, 35, had the surgical procedure in mid-July after struggling an harm throughout a exercise. It got here simply over a yr after he agreed to a four-year, $212 million deal with Philadelphia the earlier offseason.
It was a brutally disappointing 2024-25 for each George and the 76ers. George struggled with a number of accidents, appeared in simply 41 video games and averaged simply 16.2 factors, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. The 16.2 factors per recreation have been his lowest since 2014-15, by which he solely appeared in eight video games. The 76ers, who have been additionally with out Joel Embiid (restricted to simply 19 video games) and Tyrese Maxey (52 video games) for vital stretches, shut George down for the season in Could.
The 76ers, given Embiid and George’s ages and harm histories, are one of the troublesome groups to undertaking in 2025-26, even in what seems to be a wide-open Jap Convention. When wholesome, Philadelphia has loads of star energy and a strong supporting solid with Quentin Grimes, Jared McCain, Kelly Oubre Jr. and VJ Edgecombe, the No. 3 general choose within the 2025 NBA Draft. Well being, nonetheless, has been fleeting, and the workforce will hope George’s doubtless absence to start the yr is not a harbinger of accidents to return.
The 76ers will shut out their preseason schedule in opposition to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Whereas George will not play, Nurse stated there’s an opportunity Embiid might swimsuit up within the preseason finale as he ramps up for the common season.
