Joel Embiid, a Cameroon center seen as a possible first pick in next week’s NBA Draft, will undergo surgery on his broken right foot on Friday, his agent said Thursday.
The 7-footer “suffered a stress fracture to the navicular bone in his right foot,” agent Arn Tellem said. “He is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow.”
Embiid will not take part in any other workouts for NBA clubs, as he was to have done for Milwaukee later this week, and will not attend next Thursday’s NBA Draft in New York, Tellum said.
The news clouds his prospects and is a potential decision changer for several teams ahead of the draft.
Embiid was seen as a potential top overall choice by the Cleveland Cavaliers or falling no worse than to Milwaukee or Philadelphia in the second and third spots, his chief rivals being Duke star Jabari Parker and Kansas teammate Andrew Wiggins.
Embiid missed the last two regular season games and all of the post-season for the Jayhawks due to a lower back stress fracture but was still named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots in 28 games.