Robert

Covington

Embiid doesn’t have an official timeline, but with less than three weeks remaining in the regular season, it shouldn’t be much longer before he is back on the court. Nurse also mentioned that Robert Covington is “making some progress”, while De’Anthony Melton is “not as close yet”. They’re “hopeful” that both will be back before the end of the regular season, but that doesn’t mean that any of these three will suit up in time to impact your fantasy league.

There is still no timeline for Embiid’s return, while Covington should be getting close based on previous timeline updates. This is obviously a step in the right direction for both players, but the 76ers will likely continue to play without Embiid moving forward. His absence is obviously far more impactful than Covington’s, but managers shouldn’t expect him to be back soon.

Covington has been sidelined since December, but he is expecting to be back by the middle of March. He’ll provide them with some depth, but with Tobias Harris and Nicolas Batum both healthy, Covington won’t see a large enough role to impact fantasy hoops.

Covington hasn’t played since December, but he isn’t expected to be back until the middle of March. KJ Martin and Nicolas Batum should continue to fill out the power forward minutes behind Tobias Harris for the foreseeable future.

Melton will be sidelined for at least another week, but there’s no clear timeline for his return. Robert Covington will be out 3-4 weeks due to left knee inflammation, so Philly’s rotation will be a bit thin in the immediate future. Kelly Oubre, Marcus Morris and Patrick Beverley are candidates for additional minutes. Morris and Beverley are both considered probable for Thursday’s matchup at Indiana, as is Jaden Springer, but Springer isn’t expected to play a meaningful role in this rotation.

Covington will miss a tenth consecutive game due to knee tendinitis and does not have a clear timeline for return. He hasn’t been a valuable fantasy option when healthy this season, so fantasy managers can leave RoCo on the waiver wire.

All four players have played limited rotational roles for the Sixers this season, but their vacated minutes could go to the likes of Kelly Oubre, Nic Batum and Paul Reed. Covington will miss, at minimum, the next two games when Philly faces Orlando on Friday and Charlotte on Saturday for a back-to-back road trip.

None of the trio played Monday against Houston, and none will be available for the second game of the back-to-back set on Tuesday. The continued absences of Bamba, RoCo and Springer shouldn’t have any impact on fantasy managers’ lineup decisions, as none of them have been on the radar in 12 or 14-team leagues aside from desperation streaming.

Embiid has been sidelined for three straight games and seven of their last nine. If he is able to return on Monday, Paul Reed will be pushed to the bench, where he won’t provide any fantasy value. Kelly Oubre was also able to practice on Sunday, while Robert Covington wasn’t. Still, neither has officially been given a status for Monday, so all three players could still be available to play.

After missing Saturday’s loss to the Jazz with an illness, Covington was at practice on Monday. However, he’s now dealing with swelling in his left knee and will not play on Wednesday. Alone, his absence won’t impact fantasy basketball. However, with the 76ers also ruling out Joel Embiid, Marcus Morris Sr. (or even KJ Martin) may have more minutes available to him.