By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
One of the bigger storylines heading into the Sixers' regular season opener is the status and availability of 148-million-dollar man, Joel Embiid. On Monday, Brett Brown told reporters that he expects Embiid's minutes to be restricted to the teens. Well, simply put, Embiid is not on board with that and expressed his displeasure with it on Monday.
“Oh sh*t, I didn’t know about that,” Embiid told PhillyVoice. “That’s very disappointing, I feel great and hopefully that changes based on today’s practice and tomorrow’s practice.”
Fast forward to Tuesday, it seems Brown's stance along with the medical staff hasn't changed. Following practice, Embiid was asked what he thought about the restriction and his first two words were….well, hearing is believing.
Marshall Harris of NBC Sports Philadelphia indicates that Embiid's minutes will likely be capped at 16, despite the big man hoping to have been able to play over 20 minutes in the opener against Washington.
Jojo thought he would have played 20 min in his second preseason game. Had hoped to play 24 minutes against WAS. Looks like 16 min is cap.
— Marshall Harris (@mharrisNBCS) October 17, 2017
While it's clearly disappointing to Joel and some fans that he'll be restricted, it's not very surprising that the Sixers are taking this approach. They've been extremely cautious with Embiid since he's been drafted and the goal is to build him into a guy that can continually go out and play 30+ minutes per game and 65+ games a year.
“I got a voice, they got to listen to me. It depends on how I feel, so if I feel great and my body feels great and my knee is fine, I should play 30 minutes or more,” said Embiid. “Definitely going to have my opinion on that, and they’re going to hear me. We’re going to discuss it, but at the same time I trust them, I trust the doctors, and even if I feel good, they have a plan behind it.
"It's frustrating, but once again, you've got to trust the process." – Joel Embiid on minute restrictions
— Jessica Camerato (@JCameratoNBCS) October 17, 2017
We'll have to wait and see how quickly his minutes increase, but an unhappy and angry Embiid could cause nightmares for the Wizards when the Sixers take the court tomorrow night in the nation's capitol.
