Report: Joel Embiid Will Not Play in Preseason, Including Matchup Against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday

It was announced today that Embiid will not play in the preseason

Dec 8, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) controls the ball against Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela (15) in the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images / Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Hawks have their second preseason game on Monday night and will welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to town. Philadelphia is projected to be one of the NBA's best teams this season, but they are not going to have their best player tomorrow night when the two teams play. The 76ers are going to be without Joel Embiid for not just tomorrow night, but for the rest of the preseason.

The Sixers say Joel Embiid is progressing well in his ramp up process for his left knee, and will continue to stay on an individual treatment plan to prepare for the upcoming regular season. The team makes it official he won’t play in any preseason games.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) October 13, 2024

While Embiid is not going to play, there is still going to be plenty of intrigue on both sides about this game. Now it is the preseason and player availability should always come into question, but the 76ers could still play their other two stars, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. The Hawks held out Bogdan Bogdanovic and Onyeka Okongwu in last week's game vs Indiana and they also have three games in four days this week.

Atlanta is hoping that its second preseason game is going to go just as good as the first.

Zaccharie Risacher was the least talked about No.1 pick maybe ever, but he showed last night why the Atlanta Hawks spent the top pick in the draft on him. He scored 18 points on 7-9 shooting and looked very comfortable for a rookie playing in his first game. He displayed his length and versatility last night and it was pretty close to a perfect debut for Risacher. Will he play like this every night? Of course not, but the fact he showed this kind of upside right away has to be encouraging.

After the game, Hawks point guard Trae Young had plenty of praise for Risacher:

"Yeah, I hate that this was not the first game of the season where it counts for real because that was a hell of a performance and a hell of a start. I wanted him to feel like how he felt tonight like there is no pressure on him, he can go out there and be himself and he played like he did tonight. He shot the ball really well and has a great feel for the game and can make the right reads, obviously, he is going to make some turnovers and make some mistakes, but he is going to have a hell of a career."

It was not just Risacher though. Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Vit Krejci, and Kobe Bufkin shined in their roles last night. Each player is expected to play a role on the Hawks this year (some bigger than others), but it was a great night for all of them.