Latest Joel Embiid injury update puts 76ers season in jeopardy

As the Philadelphia 76ers look to regain their top-three seed from earlier in the season, the franchise will likely have to do it without their top star.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Joel Embiid has an injured lateral meniscus and will be out for the weekend at the very least. This comes off the heels of a discussion about whether the big man will be able to play at least 65 games to qualify for MVP voting, which seems out of the question after this latest injury.

The star injured himself in the team's matchup against the Pacers on Jan. 25. Embiid missed two games, then re-injured his left knee in the loss to the Warriors on Tuesday, Jan. 30

While an in-person doctor is always a lot better than a Twitter doctor, Dr. Evan Jeffries tweeted that Embiid could be looking at a four- to six-week recovery in the best case.

In that situation, the veteran All-NBA star would be looking at a meniscectomy. In the worst-case scenario, he could be looking at a recovery time of four to six months. This situation comes into play if the big man needs a meniscus repair.

At the very least, it seems like Embiid will miss weeks of the season and the Sixers will need to learn to manage without him.

How can the Sixers manage to keep themselves afloat without Joel Embiid?

In order to keep pace in the East without Embiid, Philadelphia will need to lean on Tyrese Maxey for the foreseeable future. To be clear Maxey will likely need to turn into a top bucket-getter in the league if the Sixers want any chance of avoiding a possible date with the play-in tournament.

Another horrible fact of this injury is that even when Embiid returns, the star will likely not be fully healthy for the rest of the season.

There is a good chance that Embiid will return for the Sixers for the play-in tournament or playoffs but he will never be the same for the rest of the season. When players come back from injuries like these, they are often not the same until they have a full offseason of rest. With that in mind, it's fair to say that Philadelphia is in deep trouble even if Embiid is faced with the best-case situation for his injury.