Report: 76ers' Paul George Out for Season; Got Injections on Knee, Abductor Injuries

Joel Embiid was ruled out for the season earlier in March due to ongoing knee issues. Now, Paul George is joining him.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported Monday that George will miss the remainder of the season after receiving injections for knee and abductor injuries.

Philly's season has been a recurring cycle of injury and disappointment. Embiid appeared in just 19 games, George in 41, impressive rookie Jared McCain's season ended after just 23 contests, and the roster, in general, has been hit with injury issue after injury issue.

Even the normally durable Tyrese Maxey has already missed 15 games this season.

Philadelphia's season going fully off the rails may have a silver lining, however. The Sixers' first-round pick is only top-six-protected and otherwise owed to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Currently, the Sixers are 23-44 and have the sixth-worst record in the NBA, a mere half-game worse than the Toronto Raptors (24-44) and half-game better than the Brooklyn Nets (23-45).

In a draft that features promising prospects like Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, however, the Sixers keeping their first-round selection could potentially be huge, giving them another promising player to pair with Maxey and McCain as a long-term contingency plan if Embiid and George don't age well.

As for George, the 34-year-old signed a massive four-year, $212 million deal in the summer, fueling excitement around Philadelphia. The Big Three of Embiid, George and Maxey only appeared in 15 games together this season, however, and had a disappointing minus-0.5 net rating when sharing the floor, per NBA.com.

In late February, George said he was putting his podcast on a temporary hiatus to attempt to get himself healthy and ready for a potential playoff push.

"I haven't been the healthiest, so it's just been putting a ton of work towards getting my body as healthy as possible, and to keep focus of obviously being here and trying to turn things around here and the full focus is trying to get this team together," he said at the time.

With Philly's season collapsing, however, shutting him down and getting him healthy was the logical approach for these Sixers. A first-round pick hangs in the balance.