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The Sixers have a decent portion of their future tied to players currently on the shelf, so it's our duty to check in on their progress on occasion. How exactly are Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor doing at the moment?
Embiid's path back from injury is (hopefully) edging toward the finish line, and it appears his first visit to Qatar was productive enough to merit a return trip, according to the Inquirer's Keith Pompey:
#Sixers center Joel Embiid is back in Qatar for another rehab stint, according to sources. He left this week and will be there a few weeks.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) March 19, 2016
This time Embiid has #Sixers personnel with him.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) March 19, 2016
Management has gone all out to make sure Embiid has access to elite recovery services following his second surgery -- #TrustTheMangos, as it were -- and sending Sixers staff along with him will provide the recovering big with unmatched attention to detail in addition to supreme sports science.
Back home in the States, Okafor is about ready to go under the knife, according to Yahoo's Shams Charania:
After further evaluations on right knee, Philadelphia's Jahlil Okafor has scheduled surgery for Tuesday, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 19, 2016
The word "surgery" probably makes Okafor's time under the knife seem a tad more serious than it will likely be.
Multiple team sources have indicated to Liberty Ballers that Okafor's procedure will be minor (taking as little as 10-15 minutes) in order to fix a small tear in his meniscus. The ability to have it done sooner was on the table, but in typical Sixers fashion, the team wanted to do their due diligence with regards to minutiae and timing.
Moving forward, let's hope primary interest in this talented pair is tied to their success on the court, rather than a focus on how their surgeries and rehabilitation are going.