Joel Embiid missing his second consecutive season to start his career is not an ideal situation for anyone; not for the young player itching to hit the hardwood, and not for the organization that took a big risk selecting the seven-footer from Kansas with the third overall pick in the highly-hyped 2014 NBA Draft.
Things don't look great for Embiid's future prospects as an NBA player at this point, there's no way to sugarcoat it. Not too many successful careers have begun with consecutive seasons on the shelf due to injury issues.
Embiid is however, still very young at only 21 years old, and he could still potentially have many productive seasons in the league, if only his injury issues are resolved.
On the heels of his second surgery, Sixers GM Sam Hinkie remains optimistic that the procedures have put Embiid in a good position to eventually suit up for the Sixers and have a productive NBA career. Speaking with media members on a conference call on Wednesday, Hinkie said that the participating doctors were also optimistic following the surgery.
"I'm optimistic. Our doctors are too," he explained. "To give the patient the best chance to succeed you have to surround him with people who believe in the mission and believe it is going to end well."
Hinkie believes that that is what the Sixers have done.
"No one has talked me off of that just yet," he said of the potential for Embiid to still have a long, productive professional career.
He also acknowledged the presence of concern.
"Do you have reason to be concerned? Of course, but nobody's told me that that's still not in the cards."
Embiid's future remains cloudy, but at this point organizational optimism seems to be the selected approach.
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