Sixers' Jimmy Butler visits a specialist; Joel Embiid out vs. Denver Nuggets

Brett Brown did all he could to downplay the injury-cursed Sixers' latest alarms.

Veteran guard Jimmy Butler spent Friday visiting a specialist to further examine the sprained right wrist that sidelined Butler the past two games. It is the same hand on which he had surgery this offseason. He is listed as “doubtful."

All-Star center Joel Embiid will miss Saturday’s game at Denver. Embiid has been battling a back issue for more than a week. Forward Wilson Chandler also will not play Saturday.

Brown said that Butler will join the team in Denver, and sounded optimistic.

“It’s a confirmation that things are OK,” Brown insisted. "It’s far more precautionary than stuff that people are, sort of, overly worried about."

Considering the mystery in which the Sixers have shrouded injuries since Josh Harris bought the team — from Andrew Bynum’s knees, to Nerlens Noel’s knee, to Joel Embiid’s feet, to Ben Simmons' foot, to Joel Embiid’s knee, to Markelle Fultz’s issues with his shoulder and his psyche — Brown realizes that Butler’s wrist problem might spark further suspicion and cynicism. Brown said Monday that the wrist injury cropped up out of nowhere an hour before Monday’s win over the Rockets. He has offered little detail about the injury since. He understands any skepticism about the Sixers' transparency.

“Sure,” Brown said. “It might be everybody’s proven wrong, but on first glance, that’s the honest answer.”

He was even more dismissive about Embiid. The Sixers just played nine games in 16 days, but Embiid missed the third game in that streak with an ankle injury. Three games later, he began experiencing differing degrees of back soreness, which he has played through in the past four games. The Sixers were off Thursday and Friday. Missing Saturday’s game will give him five days of rest before Tuesday’s game at the Lakers.

Brown said the Sixers had been targeting this road trip as a time to rest players, Embiid chief among them.

“It’s been some of that. It’s been a little bit of the fact that he has had some back tightness. It really has been a planned rest. It’s not entirely a reaction to some of the things he’s gone through,” Brown said. “It’s a collaborative thing.”

Embiid, who on Thursday was named an All-Star starter for the second consecutive season, was not available for comment Friday. Brown called Embiid the organization’s “crown jewel,” and said that while Embiid’s growth on the court has been astounding over the past three seasons, he was even prouder of Embiid’s maturation — exemplified, perhaps, in Embiid (who hates to sit out) endorsing the decision to rest Saturday.

"He’s never, ‘Aw, this is a great idea!’ " Brown said. “He’s more swayed to, ‘I understand why this has been determined,’ with him. People need to hear that quite loudly and written plainly: This is not marching orders. It’s a collaborative discussion that has been ongoing for a while. This news isn’t surprising him, or any of us.”

Brown did not sketch a rotation for Saturday. When Embiid missed the game Jan. 11 against the visiting Hawks, the Sixers started both Butler and Chandler.

Chandler is suffering from “tightness” in his left hamstring. It is the same hamstring that cost him the first nine games of the season. It will be the 16th time in 50 games that he will not play. Brown lauded Chandler’s efforts during his 36-minute performance in Wednesday’s comeback win over the visiting Spurs.

That was the Sixers' fifth win in six games. At 32-17, they are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. After stops in Denver and Los Angeles, the Sixers will visit Golden State on Thursday and Sacramento next Saturday.

Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft who has played in only 36 NBA games because of a mysterious shoulder issue that has plagued him since the summer of 2017, recently returned to the team after a lengthy rehab in Los Angeles. Brown said Fultz will remain with the team and continue his physical therapy on this road trip, but as for Fultz resuming normal basketball activities anytime soon, Brown said, “I’m not expecting it.”