76ers’ Joel Embiid has ‘small’ lateral meniscus tear, will miss Game 5 vs. Wizards

The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement has made maintaining a title contender over an extended period of time a difficult proposition for any franchise, especially mid to small market franchises. The strain could be felt first by the Milwaukee Bucks, who face a critical offseason with the free agencies of Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton.

“I also just want to say with the player movement that happens and the various rules, it is hard to keep a team together for six to 10 years like it was before,” said Brian Windhorst on his podcast.

“And now it has become that much harder with these new rules,” interjected Tim Bontemps. “These new rules are designed to break teams up. That’s what they’re designed to do.”

“The thing about the new rules, this second apron, which the Bucks are going to be headed for… if you hit the second apron, it buries you. You can’t sign anybody. You can’t really trade for anybody. Your draft picks are automatically kicked to the back of the first round. It is a target on the Clippers, Lakers and at least the Nets when they started negotiating it, the Nets have since broken down. It is an absolute target to keep these teams from being able to maneuver. That’s what the Bucks are potentially facing here. They are facing the fall out of the Warriors winning the title and the Nets and the Clippers paying so much money in luxury tax.”

James Harden is targeting a return to the Philadelphia 76ers lineup sometime this week, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Wojnarowski adds that Harden, who has missed four straight games due to a sore Achilles, is looking to return for a home game.

Joel Embiid also missed Monday night’s 116-111 loss to the Nuggets due to a sore right calf.