76ers' Nerlens Noel: To miss 3-to-5 weeks

Noel will undergo surgery Monday to repair an inflamed plica above his left knee and is expected to miss three-to-five weeks, the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey reports.

Analysis:

The procedure, which takes only 10 minutes, is minor in nature, but it will still force Noel to miss the better part of the first month of the regular season. In his absence, Joel Embiid should have an even clearer path to minutes up front, though the big man is expected to face an initial playing-time restriction of around 20-to-24 minutes. Jahlil Okafor, who made his preseason debut Friday, should also see an uptick in minutes while Noel is out, assuming he's not limited too much by the knee issue that plagued him through much of camp.