Embiid 'felt great' after return to 5-on-5 practice

Joel Embiid finally participated in a full-court 5-on-5 practice with the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, a key benchmark that could determine if he plays in the preseason.

Embiid has been limited in official workouts since left knee surgery in March. He played in 31 games last season - the first games of his NBA career - before being shut down in January.

"It felt great," Embiid said, according to NBCSN's Jessica Camerato. "I was a little bit rusty but it felt great just running up and down."

Coach Brett Brown has made no secret of the organization's intention to be careful with Embiid, who missed two full seasons with a major foot injury. Embiid himself admitted he wasn't playing all 82 regular-season games.

The 7-footer did say his conditioning is getting better.

"I've been doing quite a bit for the past few weeks as far as conditioning, so I felt a little bit better at the beginning," he told Camerato. "Toward the end, I was a little bit tired."

That cardio work appears to include running the streets and rocking the tennis courts of Philadelphia at night.