76ers’ star power forward eligible for $181.5 million extension…

After the exhibition contest between these two teams came down to the final seconds, Team USA brought their A game in a 103-86 victory over South Sudan. All due credit to South Sudan, who battled and even made it a 10-point game in the third quarter and 12 points in the fourth, but the Stars and Stripes winning as 29.5-point favorites isn’t exactly surprising. So let’s turn our attention to the latest Joel Embiid happenings.

Tonight, after Joel went through warmups to the usual boos from the French crowd, it was reported that he and Jrue Holiday had been replaced in the starting lineup by Jayson Tatum and Anthony Davis, with head coach Steve Kerr citing a desire to have more wings on the floor. OK, reasonable enough. We don’t need to throw a hissy fit like Boston Celtics fans. We can also throw those silly ‘He received a guarantee to be a starter in order to play with the US’ rumors to bed.

Then, as the game went along, Bam Adebayo took the floor before Embiid. Now, my eyebrows are raised. When Tyrese Haliburton checked in midway through the second quarter of a game that looked to be getting out of hand, only Embiid had not entered the game for Team USA. Suddenly, everything was clear: it was a classic Joel Embiid load management game. Anthony Davis even had his foot/ankle stepped on a couple minutes later and it was Bam who checked right back in, confirming the load management diagnosis.

I imagine we’ll get some version of ‘we thought it would benefit Joel to have a few days of rest’ from Steve Kerr. Bam was excellent with a team-high 18 points and a couple blocks. Anthony Davis was a minus-5. Does Team USA have a starting center problem??? Anyway, Team USA marches onward.