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Updates from Wednesday, July 16

Mike Sielski of Philly.com provided a statement from Joel Embiid's surgeon, Richard Ferkel, discussing the possibility of Embiid playing during the 2014-15 NBA regular season:

Once he's fully healed, his chances of having a long career are very good. There's no reason he shouldn't have a great NBA career and be very successful. Once this heals, hopefully this won't be an issue for him in the future. [...] It's certainly possible that he could come back this season.

Updates from Friday, June 27

Matt Lombardo of NJ.com has the latest on Embiid:

Friday, Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie outlined a similar plan for Embiid to the one that allowed Noel to miss an entire season in order to fully rehab before making his anticipated debut this summer in the Orlando Summer league. "I've seen reported some 4-6 months," Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie said of Embiid's timetable Friday. "That's not the number I heard, the number I heard from the surgeon himself was 5-8 months. "We will focus on the long term health of the player. That's all that matters. Will we be smart about that? Of course. Will we be patient? yes. If he can remain healthy he can have a fantastic NBA career."

Updates from Thursday, June 26

975TheFanatic provides a synopsis of ESPN's Chad Ford reporting details of Joel Embiid's injury status on Mike & Mike this morning:

Updates from Monday, June 23

Bucks owner Marc Lasry addressed the possibility of the Bucks drafting Joel Embiid at No. 2 overall, courtesy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's C.F. Gardner:

Updates from Friday, June 20

Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv relayed analysis of how an injury could impact Joel Embiid's stock:

Embiid posted a photo of himself prior to surgery Friday:

Ken Berger of CBS Sports has an additional update on Embiid:

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported Embiid's timetable for return:

Original Text

Kansas product Joel Embiid, one of the top prospects in the 2014 NBA draft, has suffered a stress fracture in his right foot, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

The potential impact on his draft stock is currently unknown., but the potential top pick took to Twitter to offer his thoughts:

Embiid will not take part in any more workouts after the surgery, per the NBA on ESPN:

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated also broke down Embiid's potential recovery process:

As for Embiid's draft stock, Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio broke down the Cavaliers' thinking:

Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com also spoke with Embiid's mentor, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute of the Minnesota Timberwolves, as well as a league source. Both heard that Embiid was dealing with an injury, but neither was sure of the exact issue with one week until draft day.

"I just heard he got hurt," Mbah a Moute said.

Wojnarowski originally provided the details on Embiid's status:

Goodman's report also included comments from Arn Tellem, the talented center's agent, who confirmed to ESPN's Andy Katz that Embiid was dealing with a foot problem. He said the results of further testing were still pending.

"He suffered a foot injury to his right foot, sometime over the last few days," Tellem said. "He's getting evaluations from various doctors and experts in the field. We'll know more Friday."

It's a troublesome situation for Embiid, because it's not an isolated incident. He has dealt with other injury woes during his young basketball career, and that's a major red flag for front offices around the league. Big men with a predraft history of medical issues tend to have high bust potential.

Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders summed up what Embiid has already dealt with:

This doesn't necessarily mean Embiid is traveling down the same road as Greg Oden, who had a world of potential but hasn't been able to stay on the court in order to show it. Cautionary tales like that will definitely be in the minds of teams picking near the top of the draft, though.

The 20-year-old Embiid shot better than 62 percent from the floor while averaging 11 points, eight rebounds and nearly three blocks per game in his only season at Kansas. Those numbers, paired with his sky-high potential, made him a virtual lock to go inside the top three before this news.

Once news of the injury's severity becomes available, it should be easier to figure out how it could change his draft stock, if it does at all. If it's something minor, he could still end up going No. 1 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. If it's a serious issue, though, a major slide could occur.

Ultimately, each team will need to weigh the risk against the reward. The lack of dominant big men around the league makes rare prospects like Embiid extremely valuable, but if an organization doesn't have faith he can stay on the court, there are safer options available, especially in a class as talented as this one.

It's a situation to monitor very closely over the next week.