According to several news outlets, Joel Embiid is visiting with the Cleveland Cavaliers sometime in the near future.
The visit will primarily consist of a physical, a test that could determine whether or not Embiid will be drafted number one overall.
The Kansas center injured his back late in the season but the buzz around his play and development has continued to grow. He plays with grit and determination but has only been playing the sport of basketball for a few years. His ability to face a post-defense, read it quickly, and either attack or pass out has been impressive. It's a skill-set that the Cameroon native appears to come by naturally.
He also has a healthy amount of "fuck you" in his game, an intangible that most consider to be lacking in teammate and fellow prospect Andrew Wiggins.
On top of all that, Brad did a breakdown of the 2014 NBA draft class and found that Embiid has the highest projected PER (and that's with closely regulated minutes at the NCAA level). You can see Brad's breakdown here, and his story here. (Yay for shameless self-promotion!)
The visit will primarily consist of a physical, a test that could determine whether or not Embiid will be drafted number one overall.
The Kansas center injured his back late in the season but the buzz around his play and development has continued to grow. He plays with grit and determination but has only been playing the sport of basketball for a few years. His ability to face a post-defense, read it quickly, and either attack or pass out has been impressive. It's a skill-set that the Cameroon native appears to come by naturally.
He also has a healthy amount of "fuck you" in his game, an intangible that most consider to be lacking in teammate and fellow prospect Andrew Wiggins.
On top of all that, Brad did a breakdown of the 2014 NBA draft class and found that Embiid has the highest projected PER (and that's with closely regulated minutes at the NCAA level). You can see Brad's breakdown here, and his story here. (Yay for shameless self-promotion!)
That said, NBA teams still have a sour taste in their mouth with injury-plagued centers. Ask Portland about Greg Oden. Actually, ask anyone about Greg Oden. Ask Greg Oden about Greg Oden. The former Ohio State center and number one overall pick (selected ahead of MVP Kevin Durant) recently told Grantland that he considers himself to be among the worst busts in NBA history.
Joel Embiid is not Greg Oden and his game, and injury, deserve to be judged with a clean palate. But that's not the reality. The reality is that teams don't want to make the same mistake that their predecessors did. And while Brad predicts Embiid's PER may be the highest at the next level (19.4 for those of you to lazy to click on his link), his injury history is scary. His body isn't used to the rigors of basketball and started to ache and crumble during a relatively short NCAA season. There is some weight to concerns over his ability to remain healthy and dominant at the next level (which features a significantly longer season and post-season).
And he's not very thick yet. He'll need to add weight and muscle to his frame, if only to survive. Embiid struggled against stronger opponents. Go back and watch his match-up against Florida. He looked overmatched and overwhelmed for stretches. Patric Young, who is undersized for an NBA big man, bullied Embiid at times. The Kansas center went 3-6 in that game, for six points, and had three blocks and six rebounds. His length forced Young to miss some gimme shots, but Young was able to force Embiid off the block, into bad positions, and generally nullify the potential number one overall pick. Florida won that game. But that was early in the season and Embiid did develop considerably over the course of the year.
In match-ups with Texas, Florida, and Baylor (all of which feature potential NBA big men that are either stronger than Embiid or close to the same length) Embiid struggled to score and rebound, particularly on the offensive glass. He took between 6 and 9 shots in all of those regular season games (two against Texas and Baylor, one against the Gators) and never scored more than 13 points. His running mate, the aforementioned Wiggins (much maligned for his "lack" of killer instinct) averaged 17 points in those games. And while his shooting percentage oscillated between decent and miserable, the man cannot be accused of not shooting. Wiggins gathered a hefty chunk of his points from the free throw line and dumped 26 points on a quality Florida defense. How Wiggins' game added or subtracted to Embiid's (and vice-versa) is difficult to say at this point.
Embiid's injury first surfaced in a definite way against the uber-physical Texas team that made sure they banged him around, using the thick Cameron Ridley. During stretches of his games against Texas, Embiid looks dominant---a two-way player capable of radically changing the complexion of a game. At other times, he looks like a former volleyball player who underwent a massive growth spurt and decided to become a basketball player; in other words---he looks like he's wandering. He looks frail and beaten up.
Embiid could be a great NBA talent, capable of sustained spurts of brilliance. He could also be a cautionary tale, Greg Oden 2.0, and no one knows for sure. That's why this physical could be so important. If Embiid is healthy, his ceiling is still the Dream. If he's not clear, his ceiling might be Oden. The Cavs can't afford another number one overall bust. This pick needs to succeed or the fanbase may flee in droves, and no one would blame them.
(It is worth noting: The Mosby household is a Jayhawk household. We cheer for Kansas and watch an indordinate amount of Kansas basketball---particularly for people located in Ohio. Also, my father, who watched quite a bit of Jayhawk basketball himself, believes Wiggins should be the number one overall pick. Not sure I agree with him, but it's worth mentioning that this issue is divisive even on the family level.)
Joel Embiid is not Greg Oden and his game, and injury, deserve to be judged with a clean palate. But that's not the reality. The reality is that teams don't want to make the same mistake that their predecessors did. And while Brad predicts Embiid's PER may be the highest at the next level (19.4 for those of you to lazy to click on his link), his injury history is scary. His body isn't used to the rigors of basketball and started to ache and crumble during a relatively short NCAA season. There is some weight to concerns over his ability to remain healthy and dominant at the next level (which features a significantly longer season and post-season).
And he's not very thick yet. He'll need to add weight and muscle to his frame, if only to survive. Embiid struggled against stronger opponents. Go back and watch his match-up against Florida. He looked overmatched and overwhelmed for stretches. Patric Young, who is undersized for an NBA big man, bullied Embiid at times. The Kansas center went 3-6 in that game, for six points, and had three blocks and six rebounds. His length forced Young to miss some gimme shots, but Young was able to force Embiid off the block, into bad positions, and generally nullify the potential number one overall pick. Florida won that game. But that was early in the season and Embiid did develop considerably over the course of the year.
In match-ups with Texas, Florida, and Baylor (all of which feature potential NBA big men that are either stronger than Embiid or close to the same length) Embiid struggled to score and rebound, particularly on the offensive glass. He took between 6 and 9 shots in all of those regular season games (two against Texas and Baylor, one against the Gators) and never scored more than 13 points. His running mate, the aforementioned Wiggins (much maligned for his "lack" of killer instinct) averaged 17 points in those games. And while his shooting percentage oscillated between decent and miserable, the man cannot be accused of not shooting. Wiggins gathered a hefty chunk of his points from the free throw line and dumped 26 points on a quality Florida defense. How Wiggins' game added or subtracted to Embiid's (and vice-versa) is difficult to say at this point.
Embiid's injury first surfaced in a definite way against the uber-physical Texas team that made sure they banged him around, using the thick Cameron Ridley. During stretches of his games against Texas, Embiid looks dominant---a two-way player capable of radically changing the complexion of a game. At other times, he looks like a former volleyball player who underwent a massive growth spurt and decided to become a basketball player; in other words---he looks like he's wandering. He looks frail and beaten up.
Embiid could be a great NBA talent, capable of sustained spurts of brilliance. He could also be a cautionary tale, Greg Oden 2.0, and no one knows for sure. That's why this physical could be so important. If Embiid is healthy, his ceiling is still the Dream. If he's not clear, his ceiling might be Oden. The Cavs can't afford another number one overall bust. This pick needs to succeed or the fanbase may flee in droves, and no one would blame them.
(It is worth noting: The Mosby household is a Jayhawk household. We cheer for Kansas and watch an indordinate amount of Kansas basketball---particularly for people located in Ohio. Also, my father, who watched quite a bit of Jayhawk basketball himself, believes Wiggins should be the number one overall pick. Not sure I agree with him, but it's worth mentioning that this issue is divisive even on the family level.)