The Philadelphia 76ers must be thinking that they are the biggest loser already in the 2014 NBA Draft. First off they lost out on a top two pick thanks to Cleveland and now they could potentially lose out on a top-three talent with the announcement of Joel Embiid’s injury.

It is widely speculated that the 76ers desperately want to move up in the draft in order to get Andrew Wiggins. Even if they can’t get Wiggins, they most certainly would nab Jabari Parker as a close second best option.

Problem now is that teams aren’t going to be as interested in passing up a first or second overall pick knowing that Embiid isn’t necessarily the third-best prospect in the draft any longer. Philadelphia might covet Wiggins and / or Parker here, but without a successful trade they will both be off the board here.

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Let’s take an honest look the state of the 76ers. Any which way you want to look at this team they are most certainly not a playoff team next season and probably not the season after that either. Even if the 76ers could get Wiggins or Parker, that outlook won’t change.

Looking back at the franchise they have already shown great patience in dealing with Nerlens Noel and his recovery from injury. It isn’t unrealistic to think that the 76ers would be as patience with Embiid here. I’m sure that they must be trying to conceive what a front court comprised of Embiid and Noel could look like.

Once the 76ers shed Thaddeus Young and his contract the 76ers will have the most payroll flexibility of any team in the league. With a young nucleus of Michael Carter-Williams, Noel and Tony Wroten already in the mix and with a player like Embiid also in the fold, Philadelphia will become a coveted destination for free-agents. Pair a top-tier free-agent with this core of players and all of a sudden you have a playoff team in the weaker Eastern Conference.  

Picking Embiid makes even more sense here when you factor in that the next highest rated players on most draft big boards are point guards and the 76ers already struck gold in that department last season with Carter-Williams. Now it’s possible that the 76ers value a player like Noah Vonleh here too, but he might be a reach for a third overall pick.

Other teams know this too and that unfortunately that makes trading back in the draft a bit complicated as well, unless they can throw up enough of a smokescreen to convince teams that they really want Dante Exum with the plan of converting him into a two-guard down the road.

Once the 76ers are on the clock come draft day and assuming that Wiggins and Parker are off the board; picking Embiid here just makes sense. Keeping in mind that this is the same injury that slowed Yao Ming down and ultimately forced his retirement. Now Ming was eight years older than Embiid when the injury occurred and Ming had been playing on the injured foot for quite a while before finally opting for surgery. Embiid’s injury was caught early on and given the right opportunity he need not play his entire rookie season if it means a full recovery down the road.

Patience will be needed in Philadelphia, but one need not look any further than Blake Griffin to see that an athlete can suffer a devastating injury, a career threatening injury and still come back under the right program to be dominant. Hopes are in Philadelphia that Embiid can do the same.