Embiid Out For Surgery, Curry Missing Lakers Matchup: Late-Season NBA Buzz Heating Up

The NBA regular season is winding down and things are getting messy. Joel Embiid is heading under the knife, Stephen Curry is sitting out, and the playoff picture is finally coming into focus. Meanwhile, the draft lottery is already on everyone's mind, and some teams are not even pretending to try anymore.

Embiid Surgery, Curry Sidelined

The Philadelphia 76ers announced Thursday that Joel Embiid will undergo surgery for appendicitis in Houston. The team said more updates will follow, but the timing is brutal this late in the season.

Over in Golden State, the Warriors ruled out Stephen Curry for Thursday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Curry is returning from injury and the back-to-back schedule factored into the decision. The missed matchup means Curry and LeBron James won't face each other in the regular season this year, and likely won't see each other in the playoffs either.

Tanking Is Real, and Nobody Likes It

With 10 teams already eliminated from playoff contention, the focus has shifted hard to the May 10 draft lottery. The 2026 draft class is stacked with talent and future stars, which has unleashed some of the most aggressive tanking the league has ever seen.

ESPN's Anthony Slater talked to players, coaches, and front office guys about it. The consensus is clear: tanking sucks, but it works. Golden State coach Steve Kerr didn't mince words: "I hate it." But he and others admit it's often the smartest path to rebuild when you're stuck at the bottom.

One Western Conference GM laid it out plainly: "These teams are doing the whole gamut: sitting guys in the fourth, playing analytically bad lineups, drawing up plays for bad shots. The creativity is impressive and I don't blame them. It's the best strategy to get better. Look at all the most promising teams in the league: Thunder, Spurs, Pistons, Rockets, Hornets. Years of being bad and building up on high picks. It's painful but worthwhile."

The problem is how obvious it's become. Management is ordering tank jobs earlier in the season, creating months of unwatchable basketball. The average margin of victory this season is 13.1 points, the largest in NBA history. A record 89 games have been decided by 30 or more points. That's not competition. That's chaos.

What's Next

The draft lottery on May 10 is going to reshape franchises across the league. Until the NBA figures out real rules or real punishments for tanking, expect this to keep happening.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.