I thought you could do a 1+1 player option? Huh.

Arron Afflalo, Derrick Williams and Ron Baker thought the same 🙂

Maybe, but I remember a lot of articles like this one:

I went back and looked at about 15 mock drafts before his foot injury, and Wiggins was the most common #1 pick, but it is fair to say that Embiid did show up on a lot of them (and Parker was even #1 on one!). So I think your main point still basically stands. Do note, though, that I only found a single mock that had him as #4 after the injury. In other words, he seemed to be the consensus #3 pick after the injury, with everyone liking Wiggins and Parker over him after the injury, but feeling that he shouldn’t drop past #3 (except for one mock draft that had Exum ahead of him).

I was wrong, I read somewhere you couldn’t, but Milos Teodosic signed a 1+1 contract with a player option with the Clippers just last season, so it’s definitely possible.

I think Embiid would still have been drafted after Wiggins, but if he didn’t get injured he would also have played an entire NCAA season, so that could have skewed the perception of the teams involved. Anyway, a healthy rookie Embiid and 10 g-leaguers would hardly have won many more games for Philly, so the argument doesn’t hold much value anyway.

I also disagree that Embiid would have gone #1 that year

Maybe, but I remember a lot of articles like this one:
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/6/19/5824534/joel-emblid-injury-foot-nba-draft-2014-analysis

Lebron really answered the bell tonight, huh?

As I recall, the Sixers drafted Embiid because he fit their curve specifically because he was injured

They drafted him because they thought he was the best player available and they didn’t care about him missing a year. In other words, they weren’t actively looking for an injured guy, they just didn’t care if he was injured because of the tanking.

I also disagree that Embiid would have gone #1 that year. He should have gone #1, but I think Wiggins would have been #1 even if Embiid had been healthy. People really liked Wiggins for whatever reason that year. It’s possible that Parker would have been picked #2, as well.

if the injuries to Embiid didn’t happen, they would still have Embiid, who’s a legit 24 year old superstar,

I think if the Embiid injury didn’t happen, he would have been drafted #1 (or possibly #2) and either way the Sixers would have ended up with Jabari Parker, no?

(As I recall, the Sixers drafted Embiid because he fit their curve specifically because he was injured).

I love the new Strato idea that tanking doesn’t work because everyone is doing it. Really outside the box.

If I recall correctly, player options can only be attached to contracts that have a minimum of 2 years guaranteed (2 years plus the 1 player option year), like the contract he signed with Cleveland in 2016 and then declined the player option to go to the Lakers, and it can only be for the final year of the deal. If he did that, then he would get the same money he’s getting now for the 3 years of the contract.

Edit: I’m wrong on the two years, I think Teodosic’s contract was a 1+1 with a player option.