Joel Embiid in walking boot after "setback" with foot

[MBunge]

Head coach Brett Brown explained during a recent interview that the 76ers’ decision to put Joel Embiid (foot) back in his walking boot was more of a precautionary move than anything else.

Advice: "It is a minor thing. It's so precautionary," said Brown. "When [Joel] said 'I feel a little soreness', our first reaction is to go back to square one and go back to the boot. When you speak to doctors and people that do this all the time, they say it's quite normal. It's part of the recovery of an injury that you will experience some soreness from time to time."

Joel Embiid is going to be a phenom.  According to everything I've ever read about the kid, he was by far considered the best prospect in this draft and is likely better than any prospect in the 2015 Draft.  I know people freak out and assume he's following the path of Sam Bowie and Greg Oden, but I'm assuming he's going to get healthy.   Between him, Noel, Saric and whoever they end up with in the top 5 this year, that team (on paper) is set up to be ridiculous long-term.

And sure... people will point out how shallow "on paper" is, but... is it? 

Yeah, it is.  Embiid, according to the wiki, moved to the U.S. to play basketball at 16.  That means college scouts and coaches got a decent look at him and while he was a 5 star recruit, he was VASTLY overshadowed by Wiggins when they both started at Kansas.  So basically, all of the Embiid hype is based on how he looked in the rather limited sample size of part of one college season.

Now, what we saw looked good but between "bust" and "top 10 center all time" there are about a thousand different levels where Embiid could plateau.  Let's say Embiid becomes as good as Alonzo Mourning.  That would make him one heck of a player, but someone worth throwing away two entire seasons?

Mike

[The Rondo Show]

Head coach Brett Brown explained during a recent interview that the 76ers’ decision to put Joel Embiid (foot) back in his walking boot was more of a precautionary move than anything else.

Advice: "It is a minor thing. It's so precautionary," said Brown. "When [Joel] said 'I feel a little soreness', our first reaction is to go back to square one and go back to the boot. When you speak to doctors and people that do this all the time, they say it's quite normal. It's part of the recovery of an injury that you will experience some soreness from time to time."

Joel Embiid is going to be a phenom.  According to everything I've ever read about the kid, he was by far considered the best prospect in this draft and is likely better than any prospect in the 2015 Draft.  I know people freak out and assume he's following the path of Sam Bowie and Greg Oden, but I'm assuming he's going to get healthy.   Between him, Noel, Saric and whoever they end up with in the top 5 this year, that team (on paper) is set up to be ridiculous long-term.

And sure... people will point out how shallow "on paper" is, but... is it? 

Yeah, it is.  Embiid, according to the wiki, moved to the U.S. to play basketball at 16.  That means college scouts and coaches got a decent look at him and while he was a 5 star recruit, he was VASTLY overshadowed by Wiggins when they both started at Kansas.  So basically, all of the Embiid hype is based on how he looked in the rather limited sample size of part of one college season.

Now, what we saw looked good but between "bust" and "top 10 center all time" there are about a thousand different levels where Embiid could plateau.  Let's say Embiid becomes as good as Alonzo Mourning.  That would make him one heck of a player, but someone worth throwing away two entire seasons?

Mike

He was vastly overshadowed by Wiggins? Wiggins was the most hyped player of course, but what Kansas team were you watching?

[LarBrd33]

Head coach Brett Brown explained during a recent interview that the 76ers’ decision to put Joel Embiid (foot) back in his walking boot was more of a precautionary move than anything else.

Advice: "It is a minor thing. It's so precautionary," said Brown. "When [Joel] said 'I feel a little soreness', our first reaction is to go back to square one and go back to the boot. When you speak to doctors and people that do this all the time, they say it's quite normal. It's part of the recovery of an injury that you will experience some soreness from time to time."

Joel Embiid is going to be a phenom.  According to everything I've ever read about the kid, he was by far considered the best prospect in this draft and is likely better than any prospect in the 2015 Draft.  I know people freak out and assume he's following the path of Sam Bowie and Greg Oden, but I'm assuming he's going to get healthy.   Between him, Noel, Saric and whoever they end up with in the top 5 this year, that team (on paper) is set up to be ridiculous long-term.

And sure... people will point out how shallow "on paper" is, but... is it? 

Yeah, it is.  Embiid, according to the wiki, moved to the U.S. to play basketball at 16.  That means college scouts and coaches got a decent look at him and while he was a 5 star recruit, he was VASTLY overshadowed by Wiggins when they both started at Kansas.  So basically, all of the Embiid hype is based on how he looked in the rather limited sample size of part of one college season.

Now, what we saw looked good but between "bust" and "top 10 center all time" there are about a thousand different levels where Embiid could plateau.  Let's say Embiid becomes as good as Alonzo Mourning.  That would make him one heck of a player, but someone worth throwing away two entire seasons?

Mike

The Embiid hype is based on how rapidly he improved during his one season, his two-way ability, his incredible low-post potential, his shooting ability, quickness, agility, touch around the rim, his length, his size, his rebounding and defense, his athleticism.  He blew away pre-draft scouts to the point that several felt he should have gone 1st in spite of his injury.  The idea that he was "VASTLY OVERSHADOWED" by Wiggins is just straight-up untrue.  If anything, Embiid became the story of Kansas as the season progressed. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZvUuag32OZE#t=27

His pre-draft workout gives an idea of what tools excited people (though he was being half-hearted defended by Scal or nothing)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp7PX7hYUFQ

Considering the talent in the 2014 draft, it's saying something that Embiid was considered "by far" the best prospect of the bunch.  People were legitimately comparing him to young Hakeem.  It seems outlandish, but it's not hard to see the skills they are referring to.  If he gets healthy, he should be a lock to be a 20/10 guy. 

Fwiw, his freshman stats were comparable to every great big man you can think of.  Shaq, Akeem, Duncan, Ewing, etc.   Look at Anthony Davis, for instance.  Davis averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.7 blocks, 1.4 steals with 62% shooting in 32mpg.   Project it over 40mpg and you have 17.7 points, 13 rebounds, 5.8 blocks, 1.7 steals.  Compare that to Embiid.  11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 0.9 steals, 2.6 blocks with 62% shooting in 23.1mpg.  Project over 40mpg and you have 19.4 points, 14 rebounds, 4.5 blocks, 1.5 steals.   

Kid looks legit.


https://vine.co/v/OEKxv2pHlmj

[D.o.s.]

People were legitimately comparing him to young Hakeem.

People were legitimately comparing Harrison Barnes to Kobe Bryant, too.

[Celtics4ever]

Hopefully, he beats his foot issues otherwise he is going to be compared to being less than Bill Walton which he certainly was in college and thus far as a pro.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

Hopefully, he beats his foot issues otherwise he is going to be compared to being less than Bill Walton which he certainly was in college and thus far as a pro.

His pro career is 8 months old...

What 8 month pro career was better than Bill Walton?

And aside from Kareem what college career was better than Bill Walton? Come on.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

Head coach Brett Brown explained during a recent interview that the 76ers’ decision to put Joel Embiid (foot) back in his walking boot was more of a precautionary move than anything else.

Advice: "It is a minor thing. It's so precautionary," said Brown. "When [Joel] said 'I feel a little soreness', our first reaction is to go back to square one and go back to the boot. When you speak to doctors and people that do this all the time, they say it's quite normal. It's part of the recovery of an injury that you will experience some soreness from time to time."

Joel Embiid is going to be a phenom.  According to everything I've ever read about the kid, he was by far considered the best prospect in this draft and is likely better than any prospect in the 2015 Draft.  I know people freak out and assume he's following the path of Sam Bowie and Greg Oden, but I'm assuming he's going to get healthy.   Between him, Noel, Saric and whoever they end up with in the top 5 this year, that team (on paper) is set up to be ridiculous long-term.

And sure... people will point out how shallow "on paper" is, but... is it? 

Yeah, it is.  Embiid, according to the wiki, moved to the U.S. to play basketball at 16.  That means college scouts and coaches got a decent look at him and while he was a 5 star recruit, he was VASTLY overshadowed by Wiggins when they both started at Kansas.  So basically, all of the Embiid hype is based on how he looked in the rather limited sample size of part of one college season.

Now, what we saw looked good but between "bust" and "top 10 center all time" there are about a thousand different levels where Embiid could plateau.  Let's say Embiid becomes as good as Alonzo Mourning.  That would make him one heck of a player, but someone worth throwing away two entire seasons?

Mike

Who said anything about 2 years?

[celticsclay]

People were legitimately comparing him to young Hakeem.

People were legitimately comparing Harrison Barnes to Kobe Bryant, too.

Wow talk about giving players unfair unexpectations.. also a lot of revisionist history here. There really wasn't a consensus that Embiid was a better prospect for number 1 than wiggins or parker leading up the draft even before he got hurt

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/10960593/2014-nba-draft-cleveland-cavaliers-land-no-1-overall-pick
 
Wiggins had been highly hyped since high school and there was legitimate debate about whether, he, parker or embiid would go first depending on who won. Guy must be the only player in history of NBA to not play for the whole season and surpass his draft mates. Only on Celtics blog.

[The Rondo Show]

Derek Bodner @DerekBodnerNBA  ·  30m 30 minutes ago
Joel Embiid is out of the boot and is working out before the game today #sixers

[Moranis]

People were legitimately comparing him to young Hakeem.

People were legitimately comparing Harrison Barnes to Kobe Bryant, too.

Wow talk about giving players unfair unexpectations.. also a lot of revisionist history here. There really wasn't a consensus that Embiid was a better prospect for number 1 than wiggins or parker leading up the draft even before he got hurt

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/10960593/2014-nba-draft-cleveland-cavaliers-land-no-1-overall-pick
 
Wiggins had been highly hyped since high school and there was legitimate debate about whether, he, parker or embiid would go first depending on who won. Guy must be the only player in history of NBA to not play for the whole season and surpass his draft mates. Only on Celtics blog.

That article doesn't really help much since it just listed the top players.  It wasn't a mock or anything like that.  Almost all of the mocks before the foot injury had Cleveland taking Embiid #1. 

[celticsclay]

People were legitimately comparing him to young Hakeem.

People were legitimately comparing Harrison Barnes to Kobe Bryant, too.

Wow talk about giving players unfair unexpectations.. also a lot of revisionist history here. There really wasn't a consensus that Embiid was a better prospect for number 1 than wiggins or parker leading up the draft even before he got hurt

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/10960593/2014-nba-draft-cleveland-cavaliers-land-no-1-overall-pick
 
Wiggins had been highly hyped since high school and there was legitimate debate about whether, he, parker or embiid would go first depending on who won. Guy must be the only player in history of NBA to not play for the whole season and surpass his draft mates. Only on Celtics blog.

That article doesn't really help much since it just listed the top players.  It wasn't a mock or anything like that.  Almost all of the mocks before the foot injury had Cleveland taking Embiid #1.

My point with that was that it was a considered a legitmate question at the time. Would the Cavs take Wiggins, or Parker, or Embiid. Embiid was the favorite, but it is not the once in a generational talent a few posters are making it be.

You think the year the Celtics lost the draft lottery and the spurs won there were articles like, perhaps Duncan could fall to the Celtics. Or will the Spurs opt for Van Horn or Mercer? Duncan, Lebron, Davis were considered once in a generation talents and there was no debate where they would be draft. Embiid is not in that category or viewed that way except for a few posters on this board and perhaps his family.

[D.o.s.]

People were legitimately comparing him to young Hakeem.

People were legitimately comparing Harrison Barnes to Kobe Bryant, too.

Wow talk about giving players unfair unexpectations.. also a lot of revisionist history here. There really wasn't a consensus that Embiid was a better prospect for number 1 than wiggins or parker leading up the draft even before he got hurt

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/10960593/2014-nba-draft-cleveland-cavaliers-land-no-1-overall-pick
 
Wiggins had been highly hyped since high school and there was legitimate debate about whether, he, parker or embiid would go first depending on who won. Guy must be the only player in history of NBA to not play for the whole season and surpass his draft mates. Only on Celtics blog.

Well, to be fair, Chad Ford probably talked about it and then edited it out.

[The Rondo Show]

via Rotoworld

Coach Brett Brown said that Joel Embiid (foot) is right on track, according to a doctor.
He is cleared for 60-minute workouts and can dunk now. Embiid gave the 76ers quite a scare when he suffered what was called a "minor setback" and visited a doctor. For now, it looks like Embiid will be ready for next season. We'll be tracking him the entire offseason.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

People were legitimately comparing him to young Hakeem.

People were legitimately comparing Harrison Barnes to Kobe Bryant, too.

Wow talk about giving players unfair unexpectations.. also a lot of revisionist history here. There really wasn't a consensus that Embiid was a better prospect for number 1 than wiggins or parker leading up the draft even before he got hurt

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/10960593/2014-nba-draft-cleveland-cavaliers-land-no-1-overall-pick
 
Wiggins had been highly hyped since high school and there was legitimate debate about whether, he, parker or embiid would go first depending on who won. Guy must be the only player in history of NBA to not play for the whole season and surpass his draft mates. Only on Celtics blog.

That article doesn't really help much since it just listed the top players.  It wasn't a mock or anything like that.  Almost all of the mocks before the foot injury had Cleveland taking Embiid #1.

My point with that was that it was a considered a legitmate question at the time. Would the Cavs take Wiggins, or Parker, or Embiid. Embiid was the favorite, but it is not the once in a generational talent a few posters are making it be.

You think the year the Celtics lost the draft lottery and the spurs won there were articles like, perhaps Duncan could fall to the Celtics. Or will the Spurs opt for Van Horn or Mercer? Duncan, Lebron, Davis were considered once in a generation talents and there was no debate where they would be draft. Embiid is not in that category or viewed that way except for a few posters on this board and perhaps his family.

I feel like some of the older school beat writers favored Melo a bit in that draft because he'd won the National Championship.

And obviously the Oden/Durant thing had a generational talent going 2nd. Ditto the MJ/Olajuwon draft.

I'm still missing what people see in Parker, but Wiggins could be a monster.

I think Embiid from a ceiling perspective is higher than anybody since Davis, this draft included.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

People were legitimately comparing him to young Hakeem.

People were legitimately comparing Harrison Barnes to Kobe Bryant, too.

Wow talk about giving players unfair unexpectations.. also a lot of revisionist history here. There really wasn't a consensus that Embiid was a better prospect for number 1 than wiggins or parker leading up the draft even before he got hurt

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2014/story/_/id/10960593/2014-nba-draft-cleveland-cavaliers-land-no-1-overall-pick
 
Wiggins had been highly hyped since high school and there was legitimate debate about whether, he, parker or embiid would go first depending on who won. Guy must be the only player in history of NBA to not play for the whole season and surpass his draft mates. Only on Celtics blog.

Well, to be fair, Chad Ford probably talked about it and then edited it out.

Never gets old haha