Latest Joel Embiid news a setback to Sixers' 'Process'

TO STEAL a saying from the late, great Harry Kalas, "Jahlil Okafor, you are the man."

Saturday's news that Joel Embiid will need yet another surgery on his right foot, thus shelving him for another season, thrust the No. 3 overall pick into the spotlight and is a serious hit to "The Process."

"After receiving the input of [many] medical experts, as well as conversations with Joel and his representatives, there was careful consideration given to a number of options related to this particular situation," general manager Sam Hinkie said in a statement Saturday night. "A collective decision has been made that the best approach to promote full healing would be to proceed with a bone graft of the fracture site. We anticipate the procedure will take place in the next 7-10 days and result in Joel missing the upcoming season."

Is that a wrecking ball blasting through the rebuilding process, or just another spot clouding it?

Maybe both, but probably more toward a major setback. Here's why:

The optimists will say it makes no difference if Embiid misses another year because the rebuild can proceed without him, and it will give Okafor a chance to learn the rigors of the league quicker. OK, but here's the problem: What about the progression of Embiid? Let's not casually say that he can have the surgery, recover for a year, then be ready to have at it when summer league rolls around.

The 21-year-old Embiid came to America from Cameroon after first playing basketball at the age of 15. He played high school ball in Florida and parlayed that into a scholarship at the University of Kansas. After finally breaking into the starting lineup in the ninth game of the season, Embiid was shelved for the postseason due to a stress fracture in his back. That was after a game on March 1, 2014. He hasn't played a competitive game of organized ball since. To think that he will jump back on the court for the 2016-17 season and be the dominating force fans believe he can be just isn't logical.

Let's look at the best-case scenario:

Say Embiid does get on the court next season, and is able to put in a full year. Maybe Dario Saric joins the team from Europe, also. With another year under his belt, perhaps Nerlens Noel is a terrific piece to complement Embiid. And maybe Okafor puts in a rookie season that proves him to be a formidable force in the paint of the NBA.

Even before that possibly happens, the team could have four first-round draft picks next season and a boatload of money (along with many other teams) with which to go after free agents.

Light at the end of the tunnel? No question. If the point-guard position is filled and outside snipers are sprinkled around what seems to be a formidable frontcourt, then years of success could be just beyond the horizon.

But there is also this. Coach Brett Brown said last season that the 7-foot Embiid was the player that this "Process" is building around. He even moved Noel to the power-forward spot the last 15 or so games in anticipation of Embiid being paired with Noel this year. Subbing Okafor for Embiid this season might work out, but that wasn't the plan. "The Process" was built around Embiid after last year's draft, and rightfully so. He has a true NBA body with what appears to be a skill set that few could match for a man his size. While the NBA has turned into a perimeter league, a dominant big man will always be a strong building block. That will never change.

Where Embiid is mentally - after sitting out a season in which his younger brother died in a tragic accident in Africa, and he now faces his second surgery in a little over a year and another missed season - can't be minimized. Nor can his not being able to develop his skills against NBA competition. As promising as he may be to the future of this organization, you just don't know. He simply hasn't played enough organized ball against legitimate competition for anyone to form an educated opinion.

I've said and written many times that I am someone who is down the middle on this whole process. It is a wait-and-see development. You don't know if Saric is going to be force in the NBA, whenever he gets here. You don't know how Okafor and Noel are going to play together. There is no way you can definitively say Embiid will recover from this surgery and be on the court next season, let alone be the dominant force the organization expected him to be.

Is there promise for the future? Sure, if the moves made over the next couple of years are home runs - like getting a point guard and striking it rich in free agency.

Should there be concern about the way "The Process" is now playing out? Absolutely. Saturday's statement from the team ensured that. The "wait" has become a lot further away than the "see."

Blog: ph.ly/Sixerville