NBA Draft Rumors: Team doctors telling GMs not to take Joel Embiid in top 10
By Jack Crosby
With the news that broke on Thursday that former Kansas center Joel Embiid has a stress fracture in his right foot that requires surgery, needless to say the young man’s draft stock has taken a significant hit. When you add this injury in with the uncertainty surrounding his back issues, his prospects are not too positive at this point.
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But, just how bad has it gotten for Embiid, who was once considered a lock to be the top overall pick next week?
Well, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN, team doctors are telling their GMs that have picks within the top 10 to just simply pass on him.
One NBA GM picking in Top 10 on Embiid: "My medical people told me flat-out not to take him."
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 20, 2014
Yes, that’s just one example, but you have to imagine that at least a few other teams in that top-10 area have ruled him out as a pick, if not all of them after Thursday’s news.
Embiid has been considered one of the top three prospects in this deep draft class, along with former teammate Andrew Wiggins and Duke’s Jabari Parker.
Once thought of as the player that would undoubtedly be taken first by the Cavaliers, now has the most uncertain future of anyone in the group.