Trust the process: Embiid says 76ers' plan shouldn't be viewed as minutes restriction

Joel Embiid doesn't want to call what the 76ers are doing a minutes restriction

Joel Embiid has had an exciting and injury-riddled start to his NBA career. Last season, Embiid was put on a minutes restriction to limit him early on as he recovered from his knee troubles. He's once again having his minutes limited this season, but in a different way.

The 76ers have moved away from a restriction and more into a "range" as Brett Brown called it. Embiid isn't going to be restricted to a certain amount of time, but this doesn't mean Philadelphia will run him ragged with 40-minute performances. It will all be very situational and something they play by the moment. Either way, Embiid wants to stop calling it a minutes restriction. Via nj.com:

"We gotta stop calling it a minutes restriction," Embiid said. "I think the plan is just get out there, play, and see how I feel. There's gonna be some games I'm going to be sore, and I'm going to be tired. That's where they're going to have to take me out. But we've gotta stop calling it a minutes restriction."

Brett Brown told reporters that Embiid was expected to play somewhere in the teens as far as minutes go in the opener, but Embiid disagreed with that, calling it "f------ bull----." Embiid wound up playing just under 27 minutes against the Wizards on Wednesday, which is well beyond the teens. One has to wonder if his public outrage at Brown's comment had an impact on that.

It still sounds like Embiid is going to be playing on a bit of a limit as far as minutes go, but now Philadelphia will have some flexibility on when to take him out of games. This will surely keep Embiid happy if it means he'll get to play in more key moments. The Sixers will just have to be careful about how much they play him and when. Just don't call it a restriction.