76ers' Colangelo updates Simmons', Embiid's recoveries

A big season for the Philadelphia 76ers dawns, but first some key pieces need to get healthy. As such, general manager Bryan Colangelo updated the health surrounding Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

The latter sounds good and the former is getting there.

Simmons is "playing five-on-five basketball, and dominating the gym," Colangelo said, according to Sixers.com's Brian Seltzer, while Embiid continues to work toward five-on-five.

"This is about creating long-term, sustainable health," Colangelo said about Embiid.

The center, of course, has been limited to 31 games - all last season - since being drafted third overall in 2014. The Sixers shut Embiid down in January after he tore his left meniscus.

Related: Colangelo 'cautiously optimistic' Embiid extension will get done

Simmons, meanwhile, enters his de facto rookie season after going No. 1 in 2016 and he appears completely healed from the foot injury that kept him out last year. Head coach Brett Brown, during his annual media lunch Wednesday, addressed questions about the forward sharing ball-handling duties with this year's No. 1 pick, Markelle Fultz:

Simmons has always profiled as a point forward, leading some die-hard Philly fans to wonder why a point guard like Fultz was drafted. Yet if the name of the game is talent acquisition, the Sixers have more than succeeded in landing a wealth of riches - it's just a matter of getting the players out on the floor.

As a facilitator in the body of a power forward, Simmons could be an NBA prototype for years to come. The same could be said for Embiid at center.