Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Wiggins Has Three Workouts Scheduled; Conflicting Reports Emerge on Embiid’s Physical (UPDATED)
Potential No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins has three workouts scheduled for next week, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.
Ford Tweeted that Wiggins worked out for the Milwaukee Bucks Friday in Santa Barbara and will then work out in Philadelphia on Monday, Cleveland on Wednesday and Milwaukee on Friday.
The Cavaliers pick first, the Bucks second and the Sixers third in the June 26 NBA Draft.
Meantime, conflicting reports emerged Friday about the health of Wiggins’s former Kansas teammate Joel Embiid, who reportedly met with and worked out for the Cavs last week. Embiid suffered a stress fracture in his lower back that kept him out of the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments, but then performed well in front of NBA executives and coaches during a workout in Santa Monica, Calif., last month.
ESPN-Cleveland’s Tony Rizzo said on WKNR/850-AM in Cleveland that Embiid’s team physical “did not go well” and that the 20-year-old 7-footer has a “number of physical ailments, according to sources.”
But FoxSports Ohio said later Friday that its sources reported Embiid’s physical went well.
The Cavaliers must decide whether to draft Embiid — with the question marks about his back at No. 1 — or Wiggins or Duke’s Jabari Parker.
Their decision would then impact what options are left for Milwaukee and Philadelphia.
“I always put myself No. 1 above anybody else. That’s just me. I got a lot of confidence in myself,” Wiggins said last month on ESPN’s “First Take.”
Canadian youth National Team Coach Roy Rana knows that NBA personnel wonder about whether Wiggins’ has a “takeover personality,” but he believes he does.
“I think he’s going to be a star in the NBA,” Rana told SNY.tv last month. “I think the beautiful thing about Andrew is he is so self-aware about who he is as a player and he knows what he needs to work on and he knows the areas he needs to improve in, and that’s always a good sign for a young player. If you know where you need to get better, then that’s half the battle and now he’s just gotta do the work and I’m confident he’ll do it.”
(The AP contributed reporting.)
**For previous articles on Andrew Wiggins, click here.
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
Potential No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins has three workouts scheduled for next week, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.
Ford Tweeted that Wiggins worked out for the Milwaukee Bucks Friday in Santa Barbara and will then work out in Philadelphia on Monday, Cleveland on Wednesday and Milwaukee on Friday.
The Cavaliers pick first, the Bucks second and the Sixers third in the June 26 NBA Draft.
Meantime, conflicting reports emerged Friday about the health of Wiggins’s former Kansas teammate Joel Embiid, who reportedly met with and worked out for the Cavs last week. Embiid suffered a stress fracture in his lower back that kept him out of the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments, but then performed well in front of NBA executives and coaches during a workout in Santa Monica, Calif., last month.
ESPN-Cleveland’s Tony Rizzo said on WKNR/850-AM in Cleveland that Embiid’s team physical “did not go well” and that the 20-year-old 7-footer has a “number of physical ailments, according to sources.”
But FoxSports Ohio said later Friday that its sources reported Embiid’s physical went well.
The Cavaliers must decide whether to draft Embiid — with the question marks about his back at No. 1 — or Wiggins or Duke’s Jabari Parker.
Their decision would then impact what options are left for Milwaukee and Philadelphia.
“I always put myself No. 1 above anybody else. That’s just me. I got a lot of confidence in myself,” Wiggins said last month on ESPN’s “First Take.”
Canadian youth National Team Coach Roy Rana knows that NBA personnel wonder about whether Wiggins’ has a “takeover personality,” but he believes he does.
“I think he’s going to be a star in the NBA,” Rana told SNY.tv last month. “I think the beautiful thing about Andrew is he is so self-aware about who he is as a player and he knows what he needs to work on and he knows the areas he needs to improve in, and that’s always a good sign for a young player. If you know where you need to get better, then that’s half the battle and now he’s just gotta do the work and I’m confident he’ll do it.”
(The AP contributed reporting.)
**For previous articles on Andrew Wiggins, click here.
