Philadelphia 76ers fans are already preparing to break out their “maybe next year” tagline following the devastating news that Joel Embiid is undergoing surgery on the meniscus tear he suffered at the end of January in a game against the Golden State Warriors. Though, the latest injury update could offer some optimism.

Or confirm their worst fears. “I'm told that the hope is that [Joel] Embiid misses one to two months,” Shams Charania reported Monday morning on FanDuel TV's Run It Back. “If a full repair is needed in surgery [on his knee], that's going to be a significantly longer recovery time period.”

A more clear timeline should be provided following this procedure, but the 76ers have a grueling challenge ahead of themselves regardless. The two-time reigning NBA scoring champion is averaging a career-high 35.3 points per game and was on course for his second consecutive MVP award. Philly has lost five of its last six contests (Embiid played only once), sliding down to fifth place in the East.

The team has a manageable stretch of action coming up but ends February with games against the top four squads in the conference. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey has difficult decisions to make. Do the 76ers have enough faith that they can at least hold on to their current positioning in the standings, or are they worried about potentially falling behind the Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic and Miami Heat?

The silver lining in this awful scenario is that the NBA trade deadline has not yet passed. Morey has until Thursday, Feb. 8 to bring in some reinforcements. Joel Embiid cannot be replaced, but the Sixers must still figure out how to move forward without him. Whether it be for a couple months or the rest of the year.