Any concern over the Philadelphia 76ers having too many centers on the roster can be delayed until 2016.
Joel Embiid will require a second surgery to heal his injured foot, according to a report from Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Inquirer's source said there is "a great possibility" that the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft will miss the 2015-16 season.
The Kansas product suffered a stress fracture in his right foot last June, on the eve of the draft, dropping him from his presumed perch as the No. 1 pick. Despite already employing Nerlens Noel, the 76ers selected Embiid third, with the expectation that he would miss five-to-eight months, and an implied acceptance that he could miss his entire rookie season, as Noel did.
Embiid spent his entire rookie season recovering and doing skill development work, with Summer League touted as a potential target date for on-court play. He ran into a minor setback in early March, and in mid-June it was revealed that Embiid's recovery had been met with a more significant setback.
Healing wasn't occurring as the team and doctors had anticipated, with fears creeping in that the Cameroonian would ultimately meet the fate of a second surgery and a second lost season. The Sixers called in several specialists to further evaluate the foot, and the Inquirer's report confirms the most pessimistic of expectations.
The 76ers are planning as if Embiid won't play in 2015-16, according to Pompey, and another source told him that there is concern that the injury could be career-threatening. An official update from the team is expected this week.
The gamble Philly took at No. 3 last year still makes sense, and hindsight shouldn't change that. Embiid was thought to be the best prospect in the draft before injury trouble - he also had a stress fracture in his lower back - and the Sixers made the play for the highest upside. That's the most obvious path to moving from the cellar to championship contention, but it comes with risks, and may take a few rolls of the dice to pay off.
Philadelphia continued to employ that same strategy at the draft this year, selecting center Jahlil Okafor third overall. Okafor and Noel will now begin developing as a tandem, while Embiid's place in the franchise's future remains uncertain.
