Had he been injury-free, Joel Embiid would have very likely been taken by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 1 overall pick. Falling to the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 3 constituted something of a slide, but if you ask Embiid himself, things could have been much worse.
The 20-year-old talked about his draft experience on The Dan Patrick Show, and according to CSNPhilly.com's Enrico Campitelli, "He thought, after suffering the stress fracture in his foot, he could fall into the teens or even all the way into the second round."
Embiid's loss was certainly the Sixers' gain. Had health concerns and his need for foot surgery not emerged, chances are he wouldn't have been available with the No. 3 overall selection.
"I sniffed opportunity," said general manager Sam Hinkie, according to the Associated Press via ESPN.com. "The moment he got hurt, we thought we might get him. We might be just the organization with just the set of owners, and we might be the one to do it."
While recovering from surgery, Embiid wasn't able to make it to the draft in Brooklyn.
"This wasn’t how I imagined going ...
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Article written by Stephen Babb
Joel Embiid Thought Injury Might Drop Him into 2nd Round of 2014 NBA Draft
June 28th, 2014 by Stephen Babb Leave a reply »
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