By JOSH NEWMAN & ADAM ZAGORIA
One week before one of the more loaded NBA Drafts ever, there will be a dramatic shakeup at the very top.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports! reported that Joel Embiid will undergo surgery Friday in the navicular bone in his right foot, according to Embiid’s agent Arn Tellem.
“Joel will be unable to participate in any additional workouts, and will not attend the draft in New York,” Tellem told Wojnarowksi.
Wojnarowksi reported that doctors from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who own the No. 1 pick and worked Embiid out earlier this month, discovered the stress fracture in his right foot and passed that information onto Embiid’s reps.
ESPN’s Jeff Goodman first reported on Thursday morning that the 7-foot Kansas big man suffered the injury.
DraftExpress.com then shifted the Cameroonian native to the the No. 4 overall pick, behind Kansas classmate Andrew Wiggins, Duke freshman Jabari Parker and Australian point guard Dante Exum.
Philadelphia, which picks at No. 3, is thought to want Wiggins, who worked out for them on Tuesday. Now the Sixers might have to trade some of their multiple draft picks to Cleveland for the rights to draft Wiggins at No. 1. Philadelphia also owns the No. 10 pick, now projected to be Aaron Gordon by DraftExpress.com.
Viewed as still-raw with upside on the offensive end, Embiid has already dealt with back problems, which caused him to miss the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments. He worked out earlier this month for the Cavaliers. The workout reportedly went well and the medical testing performed on Embiid came back without much worry.
As history has shown with other big men, back issues and foot trouble are generally considered immediate red flags.
Most recently, 7-foot Maryland center Alex Len was drafted No. 5 overall in 2013 by the Phoenix Suns despite foot problems and multiple surgeries. Len played in just 42 games as a rookie, averaging 2.0 points and 2.4 rebounds in 8.6 minutes per game.
