How will Embiid’s foot injury affect Julius Randle’s NBA Draft status?

Just a few days ago, it seemed that all the NBA mock drafts had united in declaring Kansas’s Joel Embiid as the probable number one pick in the NBA Draft.  However the news that Embiid suffered a stress fracture in his foot and should require surgery is likely to change all of that and cause chaos in the mock draft world.  But will Embiid’s injury trickle down and affect Julius Randle’s NBA Draft status?

Most mock drafts had seemed to place Randle going at number seven to the Lakers before the injury and as of now, it seems as if that may still be the case.

The folks at Draft Express have moved Andrew Wiggins to the top spot in the draft going to Cleveland, dropping Embiid to number four to my Orlando Magic.  Randle seems locked in at #7 to the Lakers.  This CSN Washington Mock Draft has the same thing.  Two of the three CBS experts also had Randle going to the Lakers while Gary Parrish moved Randle up to #6, going to Boston.

Parrish also had Embiid going to my Magic and to be honest, I don’t know how I feel about that.  Visions of Grant Hill are going to plague Magic fans if they take the Kansas big man.  Interestingly enough, none of the CBS guys had Embiid’s injury affecting Randle as all three had Embiid still going before Julius.

And as for James Young?  We did not forget him but the projections are still wildly sporadic.  Draft Express has him at #19 to the Bulls while the Comcast mock has him at #11 to the Nuggets.  As for the CBS guys?  They were equally confused with him going #12 to the Magic, #14 to the Suns, and #15 to the Hawks.

Five mock drafts, five different destinations on James Young.  May as well just throw a dart at a NBA map for James.

Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

For quite some time, Charles Matthews has been the sole member of the 2015 recruiting class. No need to worry. John Calipari will fill that class. But Charles Matthews is also playing ace recruiter for the Wildcats as well.

"As UK’s only commitment for the class of 2015, Matthews is the Wildcats’ unofficial ambassador at camps like the one in Virginia this week. He’s more than happy in that role. The 6-foot-5 combo guard from Chicago said he’s been actively recruiting Bragg and Cheick Diallo to join him in Lexington next year. Both players are ranked among the top 10 prospects in the class of 2015 and both have scholarship offers from Kentucky. Matthews smiled again when somebody mentioned fellow combo guard Malik Newman, another one of UK’s top recruiting targets for 2015. “That’s my boy,” he said, stopping for a moment to think about his next move. “I’m going to have to hit him up after I get done talking to you. … I’ve spoken to him about Kentucky before. He’s really interested as well.”"

Mandatory Credit: Paul Abell-USA TODAY Sports

As he has been doing, Mike DeCourcy has been ranking players by positions for the upcoming college basketball season. And to no shock of anyone, Kentucky has two of the top ten centers in the land. You would think that Dakari (#6) and Cauley-Stein (#7) would rank higher and they probably would if not team mates.

"7-0, 265 pounds Sophomore 5.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg If Kentucky had only one center worth ranking, whether it were Johnson or Willie Cauley-Stein, that player might merit a more prominent position. But how does one become an all-star when playing half the time? In fact, Johnson’s offensive skill and Cauley-Stein’s defense are rather a perfect combination. Together, they make one sensational center. And as he showed during the final three games of last season, Johnson is willing to go it alone if his partner is unavailable."