Joel Embiid‘s unfortunately timed foot injury probably means that he won’t be a top two pick in the draft. For all of his talent, the KU big man, who was already grappling with back issues, could be in for one serious slide on Thursday night. Or, perhaps not. Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News (on Twitter) hears that the Sixers are very much interested in grabbing Embiid at No. 3 should be fall to them.
Despite the concerns about his bad back, Embiid was very much in the mix for the Cavs at No. 1 until the news of his injury broke. The early prognosis is that Embiid could be sidelined for four to six months, which would mean that he’d miss the start of the regular season. Selecting Embiid at the top of the draft would be a sizable risk for any team, but it’s a particularly touchy issue for the Sixers. Philly used a top ten pick last season on Kentucky star Nerlens Noel last June and they’re still awaiting his NBA debut after a torn ACL cost him his entire rookie season.
Of course, it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to draft rumors this time of year. Just last week it was reported that Philly was hoping to trade for the Cavs’ No. 1 pick in order to land Embiid’s teammate, Andrew Wiggins.
Im assuming they want Wiggins the most but news with Embiid injury will mean top2 teams might pass on him which leads the Sixers to be stuck with Embiid at 3 over any of the other players available. Im worried about Embiid at 3 but I always thought Noel would be too small to play the 5 in the NBA. So with Noel at 4 and Embiid at 5 and assuming there both healthy could be one hell of a defensive tandem and 2 great building blocks for the future.
Duh I wonder why Sixers want other teams to think they want Embiid.
RC is correct. Sixers will not take Embiid at #3, but they wouldn’t mind dropping a few spots and grabbing the guy that they already plan to take at that spot. And do not surprised if that guy is Aaron Gordon.