One of the top NBA Draft Prospects this year, Joel Embiid, is expected to miss between 4 to 6 months after having two screws inserted into his foot early Friday morning.
Now the looming question following this news: How will this affect Embiid’s draft stock and how far in the draft will he fall?
Arn Tellem, Embiid’s agent, said in a statement that his client and former Kansas standout underwent the surgical procedure on his foot at Southern California Orthopedic Institute.
Tellem also released a statement on behalf of the surgeon, Richard Ferkel. Ferkel stated, “Two screws were inserted into the navicular bone in Joel Embiid’s right foot.” Ferkel further stated, “The surgery went very well and I’m confident that after appropriate healing he will be able to return to NBA Basketball.
It will be interesting to see if Embiid will face the same draft-day fate that former Kentucky center Nerlens Noel faced in last year’s draft.
Noel sustained a season-ending injury after tearing his ACL during a game against the Florida Gators during his freshmen season. Prior to the injury, Noel was the projected number-one pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Instead, Noel was picked outside of the top-5 at number six overall.
Embiid, like Noel, was the projected top pick in the 2014 Draft. However, with this news of Embiid’s recent foot surgery and his timeline of missed playing time, there are so many uncertainties surrounding what position Embiid will be taken in the draft this year.
Photo Credit: Sportsillustrated.cnn.com, NYPost.com
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