Philadelphia 76ers rookie guard Zhaire Smith suffered a Jones fracture at a developmental camp in Las Vegas, multiple sports media reports confirm. Smith has returned to Philadelphia for further evaluation, the team announced Tuesday.
The Sixer's rookie sustained the injury Monday at a summer camp held annually by former NBA assistant coach Tim Grgurich. The Sixers will update Smith's status after confirming more details.
6-foot-4 Smith was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 16th overall pick in this year's NBA draft before being traded to Philadelphia for Mikal Bridges.
As noted by Sports Side Media, Philly rookies are becoming seriously hurt is "the darkest, and, tragically, one of the most consistent".
The Celtics are also known to find victims, while the Lakers find ostentatious players. The Kings find bad draft picks. Predestinately, injuries find the Sixers.
Foot issues have been progressively troublesome to the SIxers. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, the franchise’s two best players in more than a decade, missed three seasons combined at the start of their careers—2014-15 (Embiid), 2015-16 (Embiid), 2016-17 (Simmons), due to foot injuries. Smith has yet to see Philadelphia’s team specialist but is likely to undergo surgery later this week, reported NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark.
Initial diagnosis of a Jones fracture, a break in the middle of the fifth metatarsal, does not represent a promising sign. The usual recovery time for such an injury is six to eight weeks, or maybe longer, according to PhillyVoice’s Kyle Neubeck.
Simmons missed what would’ve have been his rookie season with the same injury in his right foot. Kevin Durant was limited to 27 games in 2014-15 because of a Jones fracture and then another break in the same foot months later.
Since 2013, only three of Philadelphia’s first-round picks have been healthy enough to start the season: Michael Carter-Williams in 2013, Jahlil Okafor in 2015, and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, also in 2016. None of the three are currently on the team.
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