Ellis: Embiid's 'going to be great'

Joel Embiid and Perry Ellis were only teammates at Kansas for one season.

But Ellis saw something special in Embiid before the center went third overall to the 76ers in the 2014 NBA draft.

"Man, he was such a smart guy," Ellis recalled Monday following his Sixers predraft workout. "It was impressive. He picked up things so fast.  You could just see how good [he would become].  His footwork was good.

"He's going to be great. He's going to be a great player."

By now, fans know the Embiid has yet to play for the Sixers.

He had bone-graft surgery to repair the navicular bone in his right foot in August that led to him missing this past season. He already missed what would have been his rookie season after undergoing surgery in June 2014 to repair a stress fracture in the same bone. A setback in his recovery led to the second operation.

The Sixers are still optimistic that he'll have a productive career.

In what was his third year of basketball, Embiid averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks in his lone season at Kansas. At season's end, the native of Cameroon was regarded as college basketball's best big man.

"He has a huge upside," Kansas coach Bill Self said on the night Embiid was drafted. "He's got an upside that you would think would be like [Akeem] Olajuwon, 7-foot tall, long athlete, [good] feet, skilled, timing, toughness. He's got it all."

Follow and contact PMN 76ers beat writer on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers and on instagram at PompeyOnSixers