The Philadelphia 76ers announced Friday that the number one overall pick Ben Simmons will miss the entire 2016-17 season.
Simmons underwent surgery to repair a broken foot before the season in October, and was expected to return by December or January. The 20-year-old ramped up his practice workload in mid-January, but general manager Bryan Colangelo announced that a recent CT scan showed that the injury had not fully healed.
Simmons averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in his one season with LSU last year.
The last top pick to miss his entire first season was Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin in 2009-10. Griffin has averaged 21.5 points in his seven seasons since, but he has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, missing 82 games over the last two-and-a-half years.
The 76ers have plenty of experience with injured lottery picks. Philadelphia has taken a player in the top six of each of the previous four drafts, and three of those players have missed the following season (the 76ers technically acquired Nerlens Noel in a trade on draft night in 2013, and he missed the entire season with an ACL injury). Joel Embiid missed two full seasons with foot injuries after being drafted with the number three pick in 2014.
2015’s third-overall pick Jahlil Okafor has been the healthiest of the group, but even he has missed 45 games in less than two years with the Sixers.
The 76ers are 21-35 this season, which is already higher than their win total from the previous three seasons.
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