Joel Embiid to have his knee surgery in coming days

OKLAHOMA CITY — 76ers center Joel Embiid will have left knee surgery in the coming days.

Embiid has been sidelined with a torn meniscus and a bone bruise in his knee since Jan. 27. The team announced on March 1 that he would miss the rest of the season. Since that time, he has been expected to have surgery. Embiid consulted with doctors about his meniscus tear while in California earlier this month.

"I think it's going according to plan," coach Brett Brown said.

The Sixers would not disclose the date, hospital, or type of meniscus surgery Embiid will have. Brown would not say if the rookie would return by the start of next season.

"That's stuff that we will be able to talk more about and learn more about," he said Wednesday before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

However, the Sixers are happy that Embiid will have the surgery in the coming days instead of delaying the procedure. Thursday marks the 28th day since he last practiced.

"It's good to hear that they are getting on it," Nik Stauskas said. "Obviously they are going to have the whole summer to recover from it. So it's probably a good timing to get on it now and give him four, five, maybe six months to fully get better from it.

"We are all praying for him, hoping for the best, and hopefully the results of this surgery are exactly what he needs."

There are three types of surgeries for a torn meniscus. A partial meniscectomy is the most common. That involves the removal of the torn piece of the meniscus. A meniscal repair is the second type, which fixes the damage and helps prevent deterioration, but it's a more complex surgery and has a longer recovery time. The third type of surgery is a complete meniscectomy, the removal of the meniscus. This surgery is very unlikely.

"This has been tremendous research and everybody showed tremendous patience trying to learn [about surgical options] in fairness to Joel, who's taken an active role in this, and he should," Brown said. "Soon we will give some finality and more clarity to this news."

This will be Embiid's third surgery since he declared for the NBA draft after his lone season at Kansas in 2014. He had two surgeries on the navicular bone in his foot that sidelined him for two seasons. He played in only 31 games this season.

Wednesday was the one-year anniversary of Jahlil Okafor's surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. He has still been hampered by soreness in the knee, although he returned to action Wednesday night. Okafor was asked if he had any advice for his teammate.

"I don't think I can give him any advice," he said. "He's been through a couple of surgeries himself. He knows what to do. He knows how to handle it the rest of the way to make sure he's in the best situation to play next season"

Grant's future

The Sixers traded Jerami Grant to the Thunder on Nov. 1 for Ersan Ilyasova and a protected first-round pick in 2020. The forward's minutes took a hit after the Thunder acquired power forward Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott from the Chicago Bulls on Feb. 23.

Brown said he thinks Grant will have a long NBA career.

"For sure. For sure," he said. "He's prideful. He wants to be good. He's athletic enough to feel like there is potential there."

The coach said the third-year veteran is a great teammate with a wholesomeness about him. Brown pointed out that Grant comes from an NBA family. His brother, Jerian, plays for the Chicago Bulls. His father, Harvey, and uncle, Horace, both played in the NBA.

"Look at his background," Brown said. "That makes him for sure an NBA longtime player."