Heading into the NBA Draft Thursday night, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding Joel Embiid, who at one time was considered a lock to be the no. 1 overall selection by the Cleveland Cavaliers. After his recent foot injury and subsequent surgery, there aren’t a lot of teams that want to take a chance on him–well, expect the Boston Celtics.
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According to a report from the Boston Globe, just hours before the draft is about to get underway, should Embiid get passed over by the first five teams in the order, then they will indeed grab him and take that chance that a lot of others don’t want to.
"All that happened within days of the draft, giving teams a curveball that they won’t see often, if ever. “It’s a pretty unique situation,” said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.But on the eve of the draft, several league sources said that Embiid could fall to the Celtics at the sixth pick — and that the Celtics are expected to grab him if he’s there."
Despite this latest foot injury being coupled with lingering back issues, there have been some folks that believe Embiid could get past all of this and be molded into a star down the road. Apparently, Danny Ainge is one of these people.
All eyes will be on just how far Embiid will far on Thursday, but if the hand gets dealt to the Celtics, it won’t be all that long.