NBA Draft Rumors 2014: Philadelphia 76ers scared off by Joel Embiid?

Over the last few days, it almost seems like former Kansas Jayhawks’ center Joel Embiid is a lock to be the first overall pick in the draft. A recent story from Mitch Lawrence of The New York Daily News reports the Cleveland Cavaliers will select Embiid with the first pick provided he is healthy.

More from Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers are also very open to trading that pick. The Cavaliers would obviously love to get their hands on Minnesota Timberwolves’ star power forward Kevin Love, but that seems like a long-shot at best.

One recent report suggested that the Philadelphia 76ers could use the third and 10th overall picks to pull of a trade to get the top overall pick. Whether or not they would use that pick to select Embiid or his former Jayhawks’ teammate, forward Andrew Wiggins, is the question.

Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer believes the 76ers should avoid Embiid no matter what pick they wind up with.

"Vaccaro pointed out that most people with stress fractures have no symptoms at all. That’s because they usually develop between birth and a couple of years of age. It doesn’t usually hurt people when they become adults.But if the back does hurt and becomes symptomatic, it’s often difficult to make better, and the pain tends to recur.As a result, Vaccaro believes Embiid’s back injury will go one of two ways.“He’s going to get better and this is not going to be a problem,” Vaccaro said. “Or it can be a recurring problem with him, because he could exacerbate the stress fracture. You cool it down. You cool it down. He feels better and goes back.“Only he is going to define his natural history.”"

Embiid averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.4 assists per game last season.

Home/Cleveland Cavaliers