76ers Trade Rumors: 'Not a Lot of Buzz' About Deadline Plans After Joel Embiid Injury

Uncertainty around Joel Embiid's knee injury hasn't caused the Philadelphia 76ers to rethink their approach ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline so far.

On the Hoop Collective Podcast (starts at 34:00 mark), ESPN's Brian Windhorst said "there's not a lot of buzz" around the Sixers and what they might do at the deadline.

The 76ers announced on Thursday that Embiid has an injured lateral meniscus in his left knee and will sit out games through the weekend.

Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sixers' medical staff, multiple specialists and Embiid will "take more time over the next several days" to determine next steps to treat the injury. The reigning NBA MVP suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of a Jan. 30 loss to the Golden State Warriors when Jonathan Kuminga landed on his leg diving for a loose ball.

Embiid missed Philadelphia's previous two games with soreness in his left knee.

There weren't many significant trade rumors involving the 76ers prior to the Embiid injury news. In a recent Q&A on Threads, Wojnarowski said they were targeting role players, primarily because that's all that will be available prior to the deadline.

Since there don't seem to be many star-level players on the market right now, it's also in Philadelphia's best interest to wait for the summer before trying to do something big. The team can create up to $55.7 million in cap space after this season.

It's much more likely Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey will be able to find a third star to partner with Embiid and Tyrese Maxey during the offseason.

Of course, that doesn't help their chances of competing for a title this season. But the odds of that would be very long anyway if Embiid has to miss significant time or is physically limited when he's able to return.

The 76ers got a 127-124 win over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night to snap a four-game losing streak. Maxey scored a career-high 51 points after sitting out the previous three games with an ankle injury.