Joel Embiid missed his whole rookie season due to a foot injury, and unfortunately, re-injured that foot and will have to miss the 2015-2016 season for the Sixers.
According to John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com, Embiid’s surgery is scheduled for the ‘near future’, and has also conversed with Kevin Durant about dealing with foot surgery and the healing process.
Joel Embiid has not yet undergone a second surgery on his right foot, sources close to the situation told CSNPhilly.com, however, that procedure is still scheduled to take place and Embiid is still expected to miss the upcoming 2015-16 season.
The source said Embiid also reached out to Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant. The Thunder star underwent a bone graft on his right foot in late March. That surgery was performed at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, home to one of at least 12 doctors the Sixers and Embiid have so far consulted about Embiid’s hyper-complicated situation.
When asked whether the surgery would occur in the next week to two weeks, once source would only say that it would happen “in the near future.” When asked whether Embiid was having second thoughts about the procedure, a second source said, no, he is not second-guessing it. A Sixers spokesperson could not be reached for comment
If you are the Philadelphia 76ers, what do you do? This injury to Embiid is the same one that caused Bill Walton career health problems, and the same one that forced Yao Ming to retire early. Players with this injury have missed more than 50% of their remaining career games.
You have now drafted Jahlil Okafor with the 3rd pick of this year’s draft and will have him playing along last year’s rookie standout Nerlens Noel. The plan seemed to have all three players of Embiid, Noel, and Okafor staying on the roster for this upcoming season and trading away either Embiid or Noel for good value.
Now that Embiid is not playing this season, that means the front court of Noel and Okafor is set in stone for this season. After this coming season, the Sixers are left with a tough decision to make. They have to decided if they want to keep Embiid for the long haul, or do they try to trade him.
The problem with trading Embiid sooner than later is that his trade value is at an all-time low, so he has to play games first before you do that.
If I am the Sixers, I would try to give Embiid one more chance next season before I make any quick decision. The stat about players not having the same career after this injury is very scary. Although, one player has come back from an even worse number of injuries, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had numerous foot and ankle injuries before staring an All-Star career. It can be done.
If there is one thing for certain, it’s that you hope that Okafor and Noel work out together because they could easily be the two players who are with this team for the long haul.
