The 7-foot Embiid also had surgery on the same foot a year ago that sidelined him for the 2014-15 season after he was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft from Kansas. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Joel Embiid’s NBA career will have to wait another year.
The Philadelphia 76ers will hold out Embiid during the 2015-16 season after he underwent a bone graft and had two screws replaced in his ailing right foot, general manager Sam Hinkie said Wednesday.
The 7-foot Embiid also had surgery on the same foot a year ago that sidelined him for the 2014-15 season after he was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft from Kansas.
“If we all do our part,” Hinkie said, “this will end in a way in which Joel can achieve all his dreams for having a really long, really fantastic NBA career. Nobody has talked me off of that just yet.
“Do we have reason to be concerned? Of course. But no one has told me that’s still not in the cards.”
Embiid’s recovery is expected to take five to eight months. The second surgery was not to fix another break, but his recovery was slower than expected.
After the procedure on Tuesday, surgeon Martin O’Malley said the bone’s integrity was better than anticipated and Embiid is in position for a full recovery this time.
Hinkie said the Sixers would reassess its treatment approach after it proved unsuccessful last year. The team and Embiid met with doctors throughout the world before going ahead with the second surgery and setting a new course of action.
“No one is suggesting because he was shooting 3s in March or playing three-on-three in our building in May that it was too much, too soon,” Hinkie said.
Embiid first injured the foot during his one and only season at Kansas in 2013-14. The Cameroon native missed the Jayhawks’ final two regular-season games, the Big 12 tournament and two NCAA Tournament games.
In 2015, the Sixers again drafted No. 3 overall and used the pick on another big man, selecting Duke center Jahlil Okafor. The Sixers are 37-127 the past two years.
