Joel Embiid's future 'can be as bright as he wants it to be - Brown

After a busy trade deadline that saw the Sixers deal away point guard Michael Carter-Williams and forward K.J. McDaniels for draft picks, it is now clearer than ever that sidelined rookie center Joel Embiid is the face of the franchise and the team's centerpiece.

Embiid, the University of Kansas product chosen by the Sixers with the third overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft likely won't play a single minute this season as he recovers from a fractured foot, but that hasn't lowered the team's expectations for his short-term and long-term future.

"The guess and it is only a guess to how good he can be is the reason that we drafted him," Sixers head coach Brett Brown said of Embiid during a radio interview with Jon Marks and Sean Brace on 97.5 FM The Fanatic Thursday afternoon. "I think his upside is imminence. There's a competitive, dirty side of him that I've fallen in love with.

"He's aggressive. He hates to lose. All that wrapped up in a seven-foot, plus body that is extremely mobile. The future for him can be as bright as he wants it to be or that his health will allow it and we're extremely excited."

There had been some speculation that the Sixers weren't thrilled with how Embiid has handled himself as far as his weight goes through the course of his rehab. Some reports said the 20-year-old had ballooned to nearly 300 pounds.

Brown summarily dismissed those reports Thursday.

"There were some misconceptions out there and false reporting as to what he actually weighed," Brown said. "Those were untrue. We're moving forward at a progressive and aggressive pace with his weight that still needs to be better. We're moving forward with his skill-set while he can move a little bit more and more each day.

"It's coming around more each day with his shot. We're getting him excited to where he can actually be on a court and not just a zero-gravity treadmill or doing work in a deep-water pool. Those things allow him when he's on the court to be able to do things in a real way."

Brown explained that the organization's top priority is Embiid's health and that the team has no plans to rush him along to get on the floor this season if he is not fully prepared to do, similarly to how Nerlens Noel's torn ACL was handled last season.

"I think it will be difficult [For embiid to play this year]," Brown said. "As time moves on, we're governed by what's best for his health. It seems like really, it's not a fait accompli, but that's where it's pointing.

"Probably Nerlens was further along in term of doing things that Joel is doing on the court. I don't think that Joel is a couple weeks away from really doing things on the court. That's something that we won't see that probably for awhile. That's what's most responsible.

"How foolish is it for us to rush anything back? Especially given all of the heat and struggles that we as a city and we as an organization have gone through trying to build this process and then trying to force-feed guys, a player of his importance, onto the court too early, doesn't make too much sense."

Overall though, Brown says that he is much more excited about the direction of the franchise than he is even about the impact Embiid will have on its future.

"I'm really excited," Brown said. "I'm excited more with the things that are going on that people don't see when you don't understand what's underneath a wins/loss record. It's easy to say something and sell something when you're talking about something that's as dramatic as what we're trying to do in such a competitive sporting city that Philadelphia is. You look back and see the improvement of our defense and where our game is, I think we're taking a significant step forward in our development."