Joel Embiid NBA Draft Rumors: Are Injury Concerns Enough for the Former Kansas Center to Fall Out of Top 5?
ByJoel Embiid's surprise breakout season at Kansas shook up the NBA Draft outlook and now his sudden foot injury has done just that once again.
Before the college basketball season started, Andrew Wiggins was widely believed to be the consensus number one pick, it was all but assured. Then Wiggins' teammate, a seven-foot center from Cameroon, averaged 11 points, eight rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game for a full season.
Embiid's agent, Arn Tellem, confirmed the center had a stress fracture and that he was underwent surgery right away. But an unnamed source told ESPN Embiid's expected recovery time will be four to six months.
Combined with the back injury that caused Embiid to miss time at the end of the season, teams picking in the top five may now be backing off slightly. Previously, there were multiple reports indicating Embiid would be the first overall pick, now it is unclear where he will fall.
"I think there is a point at which you use a pick on him, where you're hoping maybe these are just fluke things that are not going to be recurring," an unnamed general manager told Sporting News. "But that point is not in the Top 5 or so. You can't use a Top 5 pick. I think there are too many other good options there to think about using the pick on one who has these injury problems."
With the first overall pick, the Cleveland Cavaliers are believed to be going back to their first number one choice, Wiggins. But now Embiid's landing spot is highly uncertain, especially given the talent in this year's player pool.
The Los Angeles Times reported the Boston Celtics are skeptical that Embiid would fall to them with the sixth overall pick. However the Los Angeles Lakers (who pick seventh) are worried that Boston would take Embiid if given the chance. The Lakers are therefore preparing to take a power forward like Noah Vonleh, Aaron Gordon or Julius Randle.